Last night, I took my son to the store to buy him shoes.  I couldn't find anything worth buying, but rather than drive to another nearby store, I decided to go home.  Not more than 20 minutes after we got home, while I was in my kitchen making dinner, there was a quick braking sound, a very loud crunching of metal, followed by a continuous horn.  I ran outside to find my van on my front lawn (and no, I didn't park it there), another car totaled, now sitting where my van was parked before it was launched onto my front lawn, and a hysterical young girl (she is only 16, just got her drivers permit and not covered on her father's insurance).  To my amazement, she was not hurt, and I in turn was totally unemotional/unaffected by this incident.

By the time a deputy and the girl's father arrived on the scene, several neighbors had gathered around and were asking if everyone was alright and if there was anything we needed.  Just then, above all of noise and discussions going on, my son grabbed me by my hand, led me to the cars and repeated "car broke, car broke."  Upon hearing this, everyone started laughing, as my son was pointing out the obvious.  It was then that I realized why I feel so compelled to share this with you.

Had I stopped at one more store and gotten home 20 minutes or so later, I could have very well been taking my son out of his car seat from the passenger side of the van when this accident happened.  Had we been standing there, we would have been killed as the van would have rolled right over us.  Now I know you're probably thinking, "yeah but you weren't, and it didn't happen."  Hence, my point in all of this.  Things happen everyday, good and bad, and many times we don't realize how truly lucky we are.  I kept thinking last night how things could have been much worse and how precious everyday that we have really is.  I was holding my son's hand, everyone was okay; that's what is most important.

We all have so many gifts, but the most important one, and the easiest one to share, is love (compassion, caring, understanding, etc...).  No matter how difficult or stressful our work or personal lives can be at times, we always have the ability to be thankful for who and what we have in our lives.  Everyday is precious, and sometimes it takes something tragic/bad to happen for us to realize how lucky we are to have today.  I hope you have some time today to let those that you care about know that you do.