protecting the children...

before i even

got

out of bed...

.

 

...i knew

 it was going to be

one of those days

i only have one day

each week to run errands

make phone calls

visit doctors

and on this monday

my list was a mile long

with a wedding less than

 two weeks away

i had shoes to find

undergarments, hair clips

water proof make-up

as i know the tears will

be flowing freely

add to that

the stress of finding

a climate controlled

storage unit

large enough to hold

the contents of a

three level

fully furnished condo

not to mention a

moving company willing

to haul the contents

and you get the picture

oh wait i forgot

sarah and her fever

and the puke landing

in my hands

i guess that is better

than on the carpet

a fender bender

certainly was not

the added distraction i needed

yet as i think back on it

was i there for

a reason

after a few hours

 of running around

i was parched

so i pulled into

a wendy's drive thru

for a strawberry lemonade

i remember saying to myself

how adorable the four

pink and purple

bikes were parked next to the

front door

school is just now

out for the summer
and they had probably
been planning their
visit for weeks

when the car

started to back directly

into my path

there was no where

i could go

i prepared for the impact

as it was surely going

 to happen

despite my frantic

horn blowing

everyone heard the crash

but still she did not stop

instead
 she put more pressure

on the gas pedal

i could hear it

and i could hear the plastic

of my car crunching

as it was being

 pushed backwards

to the point i was afraid

of hitting the car directly

behind me

finally her car came to a halt

as i approached

 her window

i discovered it was an

 elderly woman

very disoriented and confused

so i called 911

as i was sitting there waiting

for the police

i realized the children

had come out

and had been getting

on their bikes

had my car not been sitting

where it was

she could likely have

run them over

 as they were directly

 in her path

on the other side of my car

all of a sudden my

hectic day

slowed down

to a peaceful perspective

my tiny fender bender

can be fixed

for that

i'm so very grateful