Five o'clock on Friday afternoon.  I'd left work a bit early, and was driving on Wurzbach Parkway in San Antonio.  I got a phone call from my friend Joe firming up my weekend plans, which were shaping up nicely.  The call ended.  Even though it was raining, I was in a wonderful mood.

That's when I saw the car flying.  It was the car in front of me, and I did a panic stop.  The car came to a stop partly in the left lane that I was travelling in, and partly in the median.  There was a bucket truck overturned on the other shoulder, and a man-- no, a BODY was laying outside of the car.  If you'd asked me how it happened, I couldn't have told you (I was no help to the police at all) but I do remember that I was the first person on the scene.  I had some time to see him there.  It didn't seem real.   His horn was honking, and his car was starting to leak all of its fluids and they were running down under my car, causing the air coming out of my vents to smell like chemicals.

Did you know that in San Antonio, 9-1-1 is answered by a computer, asking me to dial "1" for the police, "2" for the Fire Department, and "3" for the paramedics?  There is apparently not a number to push if you want all three.  As it happened, a police officer happened by and pulled up behind me.  He approached the man and crudely said "Oh yeah, this is a DOA."

He was facing me, and his eyes were closed.  His legs were splayed in a way that would have hurt normally, obviously they were broken.  He did not have any shoes on, they must have been thrown off.  One of his arms was across his chest.  He had tattoos on his upper arms.  There was a pool of blood under his head.  All of the contents of his car were all over both sides of the road.  There were photos of a baby.  I wanted to believe that it wasn't his.  I wanted to believe that he was a bad man, a deadbeat dad who cheated on everyone who loved him and disappointed everyone.  But somehow, I knew it wasn't true.

It was far from the truth.  He was an upstanding man (a sheriff's officer), only 26 and had a wife and a baby.

So as you can imagine, I'm a bit freaked out.  I have tried not to dwell on it too much.  I know there was nothing I could have done to prevent it (in fact, the great ABS brakes on my car probably helped prevent it from being worse) but I still think about how short life is.  How you never know when you say goodbye to them if you'll ever see them again.

Frequent readers know that I've been in a traumatic accident myself, and so this is not the first time I've pondered this stuff.  But I'm still a bit freaked out and upset.  So.  Everyone be careful out there.  If you love somebody, tell them.  Often.  And be careful. 

Tim, what a horrible thing to have to witness! I'm so sorry! I thank God you were not involved, and that you're okay! Take care!