“When I was 10 years old, I was involved in a car accident. I watched all my friends get their licenses, as I depended on my parents to drive me. At 23, I decided to book my license test. I wasn’t ready, but I felt very pressured to drive. The instructor asked me to back into a stall. I burst into tears. I tried to explain to her I wasn’t crazy.”
‘At 22, I had two kids and still couldn’t drive. Every time a car got behind me, I had to pull over and cry.’: Woman battling anxiety says ‘don’t let anyone make you feel less for not driving’
‘He had a really rough go. Joe is our youngest child. Neuroblastoma is a really crappy cancer to have.’: Mom says her son is ‘doing beautifully’ after battling stage 4 neuroblastoma
“‘I’m going to play soccer and baseball in the fall,’ little Joe said, now in post-treatment. I still believed childhood cancer was rare. I even believed the kids who did get cancer would be fine, assuming they were treated at the best hospitals and didn’t have any unusual complications. I didn’t believe kids like mine could get cancer. It wasn’t until I was officially a ‘cancer mom,’ that I would understand.”
‘I got rear-ended today. He said he didn’t see us. Am I frustrated? Absolutely.’: Mom says she’s the one who left an accident feeling ‘guilt’ despite it being other man’s fault
“The seemingly nice fella told a fib to the reporting officer. I quickly corrected that nonsense. I’m not mad at him, just peeved he lied to begin with. He seemed distressed and kept apologizing, thanked me and drove off. Then guess who carried the guilt home? I did.”
‘I am OVER IT. I spotted your car swerving. I could see your sweet kids strapped into car seats in the back.’: Mom’s desperate plea to put your phones down while driving
“Texting away driving 55 mph on the highway with your babies on board. I was close enough for you to swerve into me. My babies were on board too, and my blood just boiled.”
‘It was exactly 4:00 p.m. There were no other cars around me for about a mile. I noticed the truck turning left and wasn’t slowing down to turn. In fact, he was speeding up. This was it. I knew I was going to hit him.’
“That day I felt a strong feeling that I needed to put my seatbelt on in her driveway. I thought it was a little bit odd, because I usually didn’t put my seatbelt on until I was leaving her neighborhood, but I put it on right then.”
‘I blacked out. ‘I’ve died, haven’t I?’ I couldn’t see anything but bright white light. I lifted my head. My airbag had deployed. You weren’t beside me anymore.’
“I lost control of my car. You stopped to help me. I felt safer as you stood by my driver’s side window. That changed. In a split second, I saw your smile turn to concern as a semi came over the hill.”
‘She was at a dead stop in traffic. She looked in her rear-view mirror and saw a car coming full speed behind her. She braced herself.’: Mom warns about the dangers of texting and driving
“When he finally looked up from his phone, it was too late. I’m sure the message is clear here.”
‘Keeley?,’ you whispered. I peeked back in. You were grinning that huge grin. ‘I love you, Keebee.’ I’m not happy to admit I got annoyed. Now, I think you were just preparing me.’
“I remember my mom on the phone telling me to ‘Get out, get out. Close your eyes, don’t look’. You knew I was coming home first that day. You knew.”
‘I ‘push the button’ and throw the car into reverse. Something was wrong. Everything started locking up on me. I push the brake and that’s locked, too! What. The Heck.’
“I knew this van was a push-start because it was one of the first things I said when I test drove it. ‘Ooooh this is so boujee!,’ I even told the sales man. You literally just push a button! It’s OBVIOUSLY not that hard.”
‘He guided us through the storm. The water was over the road. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Stopping would put us in a more dangerous position.’
“It was so bad I could see only his brake lights at one point. We noticed the truck moving over to the left and I asked my husband, ‘Do you think he is pushing the excess water off the road for us?’ The driver of this truck restored my faith.”
