Why I Did the Ugly Cry

Something took place at the beginning of this week that seriously scared me. It was so scary that I cried and not the regular cry. No, I'm talking about the ugly "I can't breathe" hysterical cry. Yes, me. Me, the emotionally-stunted heartless woman that I am :)

What caused me to react this way?

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I was on the freeway driving home from work on Monday night, listening to my radio and mentally reviewing my to-do list when my car began to shake. I turned off my cruise control, decreased my speed, and slowly moved into the right lane. I turned down the radio so I could listen for any weird sounds that might be coming from the car and thought to myself "What in the heck is going on??". Suddenly I heard what sounded like an explosion and my car started veering off the freeway. I slowly but firmly started pressing down on the brake while gripping the wheel like it was a piece of cake that someone was trying to steal from me!

I was able to come to a complete stop and after saying "oh shit!" a million times once or twice, I climbed across the seat and exited the car on the passenger side. I looked at what was left of the wheel and realized there was a bigger problem than I had anticipated. Without getting into all of the gory details, I'll just tell you that the tire on my passenger side blew causing damage to the wheel hub, bumper, and grille.

What's left of my bumper

I was scared but happy that I was able to call Tom to come and rescue me. I was able to hold it together until Tom arrived at the spot on the freeway where my car was parked. My husband walked up to the car to survey the damage. He didn't say a word as he shined his flashlight on the pieces of the tire I took out of the road, the broken grille, or the bumper that was barely hanging on. He didn't utter a word until he walked up to me, put his hands on my face, and said "You did good".  At that point, I broke down and starting crying hysterically. I knew just as he did that this could have been a very ugly deadly situation. As a firefighter, he sees a large number of deaths that are car-related.

I have been a bit shaky and at times emotional since Monday night. All I can think about is how grateful I am that The Princess was not in the car with me. If she had been in the car, I'm not sure what I would have done. It scares me to my core to even think about it!!

I'm thankful that the only damage is to my car and I was able to walk away unharmed. While I'm upset that my beautiful car is broken and in need of a serious makeover, I know it could have been a lot worse. A car is a material thing which can be replaced, a life cannot.

It's all about perspective.