First For Everything
It’s cliché to begin a story acknowledging how cliché it is to begin a story with a cliché. I’m two or three levels deep in cliché by the second sentence, “cliché” no longer feels like a real word, and I haven’t even begun the story. This weekend, I was in a major car accident and thankfully walked away entirely uninjured along with everyone involved. I never imagined something like that would happen to me. There it is. Everyone has a moment where something that would never happen to them, only others, finally happens.
I have been in minor rear-end bumps that only have the opportunity to cause minor inconvenience, but not bodily injury. On Friday night around midnight in Swampscott, Mass., with roads dark and slick from misting rain, the driver and I, the passenger, were struck by an oncoming car that did not appropriately slow down on a sharp turn. It happened in a second: headlights coming at us in the first half-second and impact in the second half. Before another second had passed, we and the driver and passenger from the other vehicle were out of the cars and completely unharmed. In what can only be described as a frantic few minutes of figuring out what to do, an ambulance returning from a call approached from the oncoming lane and stopped when we flagged it down, saving us the added stress of making a 911 call. The paramedics called police who quickly took care of the situation.
I’ve always been unsure in the argument over fate and coincidence and this incident has only lead to more confusion. But there is no confusion in my mind over the gratitude and thanks I feel for the ambulance and paramedics who were simply driving by at the most perfect moment. I don’t know if it was a wonderful coincidence or if fate intervened, but I do know there is a first for everything, even things you never expect to happen to you. I am undeniably thankful to walk away from this incident unharmed and ready to experience all of the firsts to come.
