Monday, June 16, 2008

Call Me Mr. Pickles. . .

Today has been very long! I haven't been feeling well so I went to a Dr. appointment instead of taking my kids to swimming lessons. They were excited to spend that time at Danny's office with him. Danny works in an office full of all kinds of toys and crazy contraptions so my kids are in heaven when they get to visit him.
Afterwards I met my friend Christi at her country club to let the kids swim for a little while. When we were done there we decided to go back to Christi's house and eat Subway sandwiches for dinner. This is where our day really took a turn. . .

I took Emi, Becca and Sierra and Alexis Gervasi home to Christi's house and Sam opted to go with Christi to pick up her daughter Sarah from fencing camp. She was ready to leave ahead of us and when she asked about Sam's booster seat I just waved her on and said he would be fine.
The girl's and I were at the house for probably 30 minutes when my cellphone rang and I noticed that Christi's name was on the caller I.D. I thought she was going to ask what kind of sandwiches my kids would eat but as soon as I heard her I knew something was wrong.
She said, "Sarah, we have been in a really bad car accident". . . and then emotional silence. My mind flashed with images of my broken Sam and it screamed, "He didn't have his car seat. What about Sam? She can't tell me. She can't tell me. Is he okay?"
The only thing I actually said is "What?" And she repeated that they had been in a car accident and then she let me know that Sam was fine and that I needed to come and get them. She told me where they were and I was instantly grateful but so, so emotional and all I wanted to do was see my Sam.
I told the girls what had happened, managing to not be too emotional, and then I left them to race to the accident scene. I was a mess! I called Danny on the way. I didn't want him to have even those few seconds I had just experienced when I thought we might have lost our Sam so I started out letting him know that he was okay but that there had been an accident. He was on his way to play laser tag with his team from work but rerouted to meet me to get Sam.
When I got to the accident there was a firetruck, ambulance and several police cars. I saw a maroon CRV slammed into the side of Christi's CRV and it was bad. A 17 year old girl had made a left turn right into the side of Christi when she was just crossing through the intersection with a green light. I didn't even know where to go because the intersection was so crowded. I turned down a side street and drove right into the accident scene. I saw Sam sitting on the grass by the sidewalk with Sarah and a firefighter and motioned that he was mine so they let me park right along side it all. Christi was being evaluated in the ambulance. She only had a burn on one of her thumbs and a sore chest from the airbag. Later she started getting really sore but is doing well.
Sam ran up to me and said, "Here I am. Aren't you glad I'm not dead?" I couldn't help but laugh at him and then hug, and cuddle and love him to pieces. He was really hyper and telling me about all the smoke that was in the car and how he got a burn on his neck from the seat belt but that it was now all healed. He then said, "You know if I wouldn't have gone with Christi, I wouldn't have gotten in a car accident. Maybe that would have been a good idea." Silly boy.
We had to hang around for awhile and finish making accident reports as they decided to take the 17 year old to the hospital to treat the burns the airbag left on her arms.
It was very comforting that the officer processing the scene was actually Greg Kerr who just recently moved out of our ward. He told me that Sam had been able to give him all of his information. Right before we left Christi and Sarah told be about that interview. When he asked Sam his name he said, "Samuel T., but I like Sam or if you want you can call me Mr. Pickles."
Silly boy :-) I think I need to go give him another hug!!!

6 comments:

H.Cook said...

sarahhhhhh oh no! I am soooo glad Christi and Sam were mostly ok!!!! Driving is so scary! I am so glad Greg was there... someone is watching out for you guys!

The JL McGregor Family said...

Sarah, how scary. I'm so glad Sam is ok. I hope you are feeling better, and hope to see you at swimming lessons.

Anonymous said...

Sooo glad that Mr. Pickles is safe and sound and retained his silliness... Love you guys

Reen

Brandon and Carly said...

What a scary thing for all of you to go through! I am so glad that everybody was okay - - what a blessing. Isn't it amazing to see a child in a situation like that? So calm, greatful that he's not dead, and full of humor. I think that is what it means when we are to become like a little child! Sam is a great example to us all!

Melzie said...

Glad to hear that everything is okay here :) Thanks so much for the advice :) truely helpful! I'm looking forward to meeting you when you come to visit too! See you soon!

Allison said...

I can't believe this happened! How scary! I had no idea (you didn't mention it when we talked!)--I'm glad Sam and Christi are okay. Let me know if you need anything. Hope you're feeling better :)