It Was A Year Ago Today That I Had The Scare Of My Life

It was an average morning--nothing out of the usual. I woke up tired and wishing I could go back to bed. I got up, said goodbye to my now fiance, who was on his way to work, and decided to jump into the shower.

I had no idea that in a few short minutes I'd be panicking and thinking about the last thing I said to him that morning.

He never calls me in the morning--especially twice in a row. I heard my phone buzzing while I was shampooing my hair. I told myself I'd check the missed call when I was done. I heard the phone go off again. At this point a thousand thoughts were racing through my head. Was it a family member calling? Was there some sort of emergency?

I jumped out of the shower, my heart was racing, and my eyes shot daggers at the phone. It was my fiance. I answered it, and I'll never forget that call.

Me: "What's going on?"

Dave:"I was in a bad accident."

Me: "Are you OK?!"

Dave: "No."

Without even thinking about it, I threw my pajamas back on, grabbed a towel for my hair, threw some shoes on and flew out the door. He was a few miles away from our house but to me it felt like a few hundred miles. Seconds felt like minutes.

It was still dark out, but up the road a ways I could see blue and red flashing lights--lots of them. My heart was in my throat and I could barely breathe. As I started getting closer I could see paramedics, first respondents and officers everywhere. I thought maybe Dave called me to say his final goodbye. I was fearing the absolute worst.

I pulled my car over into an empty bank parking lot. I ran over to his vehicle, but I couldn't get close. I saw officers trying to cut him out of his car. They laid him out on a stretcher and told me he would be going to St. Cloud Hospital.

I couldn't believe that ten minutes earlier, I was saying goodbye to him like it was a normal day.

Dave was hit head on by a distracted driver and suffered a compound fracture to his left leg. The x-ray looked like something from a TV show. He had to have surgery for the first time in his life and was unable to walk or work for weeks.

We're both grateful, because it could have been worse--A LOT worse. One year later, he's walking again even though it's painful. But, he's here.

It's a good reminder to pay attention to what you're doing on the road and put your cell phone away. It's not worth it.