Accident

Today around 1:00 in the afternoon my sister called, crying, saying, "Annette, you have to come now. I got into a car accident at the post office." My heart skipped a beat, but apparently she was well enough to get to the phone and wasn't in the emergency room, so I didn't ask any questions, just said, "OK, I'm going," hung up the phone and ran straight out the door to drive to the post office.

Later on it occurred to me that that's really the definition of a family. There are four people in the world that the second they call and say, come now, I need you, I will drop everything and go. And I know they would all do the same for me.

It turned out to be a relatively minor fender-bender, with the right corner of the car dented and the back side panel partly detached. It wasn't her fault--the other driver rear-ended her as she was making a turn. My sis was crying but not hurt at all, thank God.

Car accidents are the worst. Even a minor accident is traumatic and even if it's not your fault it's a huge hassle and a humiliation. When something like this happens, you realize what is really important. Cars can be fixed or replaced, all I really cared about was that my sister was OK, and right now I'm indescribably grateful for that.