Unexpected Post

Merry Christmas Eve, everyone!  I love this day, perhaps more than any other all year.  I curl up with my Christmas stories (Merry Christmas, Strega Nona!, Santa Calls, Little House in the Big Woods, How Little Porcupine Played Christmas, etc.), drink tea and cocoa, go to church in the evening, and finish the night with a family viewing of A Muppet Christmas Carol.  I had planned on this day to either write nothing at all, or else to tell you about my wonderful weekend with Zan, but before I write about how much fun I had with Zan this past weekend, I must first write this.

I was in a car accident yesterday.  I am luckily completely uninjured, and my car survived... ok.  It still runs.  I was driving home from Zan's and had been on the highway for probably less than two minutes when I glanced in my rear-view mirror to see a car coming up fast behind.  I couldn't get over, as there was a car in the right lane that I would have struck.  I thought the car coming up fast would have to slow down, but it didn't.  Instead it tried to get around me by going between me and the car in the right lane.  I thought, "He can't make that, the gap isn't wide enough!" and just as I thought that I got hit from the right (passenger side) and pushed off the road.  I was very, very lucky and got pushed into a wide, tree-less median.  My left front tire went flat, but I managed to keep control of the car and slowed to stop in the median.  Four other cars or so stopped and people came running back to see if I was ok.  The car that hit me drove on: a hit and run.  Like a miracle, a VDoT worker showed up and stayed with me through the whole ordeal.  This sounds stupid, but I kind of think that VDoT worker was an angel.  Eventually the cops showed up, I told them what happened, they took pictures of the damage.  Turns out, I was hit by a guy driving a stolen car, who already had multiple warrants out for his arrest and who the cops think was intoxicated by either drugs or alcohol.  They caught up with him in Richmond. 

Still, what could have been a completely shitty (or fatal) day ended up being actually kind of fun.  I called Zan, of course, and he came to find me because he's the most amazing boyfriend ever.  He waited for me at the exit just past where I crashed for over forty-five minutes.  After I was done with the cops and the VDoT worker had put on my spare tire (a donut), I met Zan.  He hugged me and kissed me and made me feel a million times better, then Zan drove me to Charlottesville.  We found a tire store that was open on Sundays and got a new tire put on the car.  While we waited, we got lunch; the guys at the tire place recommended a good lunch spot down the road.  Oh. My. Goodness.  Best burgers ever.  And such a fun place.  Everyone seemed to be a regular, except us.  As we finished our lunch a little old man dressed as an elf came in, everyone welcomed him by name, then he walked up to the bar and announced, "This elf needs a Christmas beer!"  We, personally, needed cake.  A triple chocolate fudge slice to be exact. 

My parents came up to Charlottesville and my dad drove my car home, and my mom drove me home.  We got here safely and I have had a lovely Christmas Eve.  Basically, what I learned from this is that the world is full of good people: the ones who came back to make sure I was ok, the VDoT worker, the guys at the tire place, my family, my friends, who all care so much.  I feel so lucky that the car accident was not serious, that I came out uninjured-- not even a bruise.  Everyone says that it was Christmas miracle, and I agree.  So many factors could have made yesterday horrendous.  So, this Christmas, hold your loved ones close, thank God for your blessings, and drive safely.