Terami.com Blog

Friday (three days ago) was very close to being my last day on earth. After an early morning appointment, I was driving to Burbank in the fast lane of a 6 lane freeway. About 4 car lengths ahead of me in the slow lane (with no traffic between us), I noticed a trailer hitch begin to weave. Within a few heartbeats, the driver of the pickup truck carrying the hitch lost control of his vehicle and it spun out across the entire width of the freeway.

For a moment, I thought I was about to witness the pickup collide into the center divider. Then, I realized I was going to hit it. Head on. Going 75 miles/hour. With its momentum working in the opposite direction as it spun 180 degrees to face oncoming traffic.

As I hit my brakes, the pickup began to correct itself, until it was nearly parallel with me - still dodging back in forth in a violent, unpredictable manner; the wild hitch yanking it around. I was a hair's breadth from being pinned between the truck and the center divider.

There was a moment where I realized that our collision was inevitable. That, dammit, I was going to have to get a new car after this. Or, only slightly worse, I wouldn't get to hang out with Katie for breakfast because I might have to, oh...say...be admitted to the morgue. The whole thing seemed more like an annoyance than anything else. I totally had better things to do than to die on the 134 freeway.

I still have the freeze frame in my mind of the moment where I knew what was coming, braced for impact, and watched with astonishment as the pickup took a sharp turn to the center of the highway, and suddently stopped. My car continued its long anti-lock slide through the moment and I watched in my rear view as the audience of traffic come to a screeching halt behind me. Then, the pickup slowly regained its composure and pulled to the side of the road.

For about a minute afterwards, I just kept saying, "Whoa. Omygod omygod omygod." And then I started crying hysterically in a flood of outrageous, purging relief. By the time I arrived at Katie's door, I had stopped crying, but my nerves were spitting misfires through my shocked system. After relaying the story and spouting fresh tears, we spent the entire day together - having just about the most perfect afternoon that two friends could share. (It involved a most delicious croissant, a pumpkin spice latte, and a mighty fine scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream, if you were wondering.) In fact, it might have been one of the best days of my life. It's certainly not that I recommend we all go play in traffic, but I'm grateful to remember how lucky I am to be alive.