ACCIDENTS WILL HAPPEN

"...this night thy soul shall be required of thee..." (from Luke 12:20)

Yesterday marked exactly 34 years since I had my first automobile accident- and it was a bad one.  The accident happened on Monday, March 12, 1973.  I was 18-years-old.  I was driving the 1963 Dodge Dart station wagon (about the size of a 1980s Dodge Aires or Plymouth Reliant wagon- if you remember those) owned by my parents.  In fact, I was on my way to pick up my mother from work.  I guess I was daydreaming because I suddenly noticed a Cadillac stopped in front of me.  I firmly applied the brake but I heard a deadly squeal as though I'd been going over 100 M.P.H.  It was very scary!  What I did NOT know is that the EXACT seconds that I had applied the Dodge brakes, a teenager across the street had decided to "peel rubber" with his hot rod.  Talk about a weird coincidence!  So I thought I had made the brake sound!  I DID stop about a foot short of the Cadillac's bumper.  A split second later was the CHAOS of a sudden drastic impact in the rear which pushed the Dodge Dart into the Cadillac.  The Dodge was folded at each end like an accordion.  Instantly my clear vision was blurred because my eyeglasses had flown off.  I had never felt them leave my face.  I later found them on the floor of the back seat area!  The Dodge Dart had been plowed in the rear by a distinguished 50ish guy named Parker Chartier who was driving a silver Ford LTD.  (For you car nuts out there, it was either a 1971 or a 1972...they look a lot alike and I forget which.)

Chartier had heard the kid peeling rubber, turned his head to the left to see it and then plowed into the Dodge Dart.  I felt very guilty about the accident.  I HAD been daydreaming and I ALMOST plowed the Cadillac myself.  If you reread my account and think even a LITTLE bit about it- well, it was a comedy of errors and happenstances.  We were all in the wrong place at the wrong time.

My father was a perfectionist and a PERFECT driver as well as having been  an auto accident investigator for the Registry of Motor Vehicles.  Dad was pretty much the type that if you were one of his kids and you had an auto accident, it was your fault, period.  (He should have worked for an insurance company!)  He was also the type that if you did something wrong, well, you could feel comfortable again in your relationship with him - well, in about a year or so.

It's something that I still remember so much about that accident.  It's one of the worst memories of my life, but it certainly illustrates that, as Dad used to say, "Accidents happen when LEAST expected!".

I had some minor injuries as did the people in the Cadillac, but that was it.  We were actually very fortunate.  Yesterday I had a poignant conversation with my 21-year-old daughter who is living and going to school in Springfield, Missouri.  Last week, a 50ish man in their community named Keith was badly injured in a motorcycle accident.  Amy knows his daughter and son-in-law, and their little children quite well.  Keith was a much loved and highly respected chiropractor in Springfield, Missouri.  Amy has spent a lot of time house sitting and babysitting for Keith's daughter during this terrible ordeal.  Yesterday, the family made the gut-wrenching decision to have Keith removed from all life supports.  (He had a living will which specified that would be his desire given such circumstances.)  The family is devastated.  The community is devastated.  As she's doing the babysitting, Amy is right in the middle of it, and grieving along with them.  Just a few days ago, Keith was on top of the world with a highly successful chiropractic practice and a great life.  Now, he's gone, and his family is devastated.  Thank God, Keith was a committed born-again Christian.  Keith is in Heaven, but somehow that doesn't make the loss any easier.  My own parents had to make the decision to remove my brother from life supports in July of 1983, and my sister and I still become shaky and emotional when thinking about that time.

I don't mean to be morbid.  As I often am, I'm in a very reflective mood.  I thank God I walked away from that March 12, 1973 accident.

Accidents will happen.

To learn more about Dr. Keith Perkins of Springfield, Missouri go to
http://www.perkinschiro.com/
and click on the info. about Updates re. the accident