Don't check that off

When we make the trek South I always send a day-by-day plan of what we’ll be doing, when and where. Visit my grandmother: check. Visit some girlfriends: check. Visit my folks and Sean’s: check and check. Visit a Gwinnett County policeman after a fender bender on Sugarloaf Parkway: check. But that one was most definitely not on my list.

I was heading over to Sean’s parents’ in my Mom’s car. It was raining, and had been all day. I was stopped at a red light, minding my own business, listening to my favorite Atlanta radio station, enjoying a drink from Chick-fil-A when I heard a crunch of metal. My car lurched forward and in that split second I thought, “For crying out loud, what is going on?!” When I looked in my rearview mirror the guy behind me was a lot closer than he’d been mere moments ago. A policeman in the next lane over and saw the whole thing and he directed us to a parking lot where he took our insurance and personal info.

Neither of us was hurt, thankfully. Well, not physically. The poor kid, who was about 18, was in his father’s Mustang. It was nearly new and he was absolutely distraught. I felt terribly for him. The impact cracked the front bumper and there was no way it would go unnoticed.

All I could think was, “If this were Michael, he’d be an absolute wreck.”

I did my best to make sure the young man knew everything on my end was okay. My Mom’s car didn’t suffer any damage and he was thankful about that. We were both thankful no one was hurt. And, again, thankfully, the policeman was as kind as he could be under the circumstances; he actually seemed concerned for the kid’s well-being, too.

Tomorrow we get back to the list – visit Sean’s sister’s family, watch one nephew play soccer, watch another march with his high school marching band. I hope yesterday’s little fender bender is the last deviation from my schedule on this visit.