Where does the luck fall?

The other night while driving home from dinner at a friend's house, our car was struck by a drunk driver. It was my sister, my best friend, my newborn, my 1yr old niece and I in the car. We didn't see it coming as we were coming up over a small hill. I just remember seeing lights and then instantly being hit. I can still hear the sound of the metal crunching and scraping. The driver struck us, we bounced off the curb and then I believe we struck him again before he hit the Hummer behind us head on. The drunk driver and the Hummer ended up on the sidewalk. My best friend did an excellent job of correcting our car and bringing us to our final stopping place in the center turn lane.

Whenever I am in an emergency situation I get this serene sense of calm and clarity. This night was no exception. My best friend had been screaming and I remember telling her it's okay repeatedly. My sister had been sleeping in the back when the car struck her door. Her head hit the side of the car and then she instinctively wrapped herself around my baby's car seat. Once we came to a stop, I called my husband right away as we were just blocks from our home. My mission now became getting the babies from the car, out of the rain, and safely home. My sister and my best friend couldn't get out of their side of the car as that's where the impact was. I grabbed my baby & his car seat from the car and then got my niece out of the car with my other free hand. It's that super human mommy strength you get when your babies need you! I then headed to the side of the road where we would be safe. My sister and best friend could now climb out of the car. Everything after that is flashing lights, police, rain, and fire trucks. My focus the whole time was getting those babies back to the house. It was all I could think about. I just kept thinking that I had worked too hard to bring my baby into this world and he could have been taken from me. So I wanted him home.

We all walked away from the accident that night. We have injuries and are sore. We will spend the next few weeks in physical therapy. But we walked away. God was with us. God was with that drunk driver believe it or not. So many things could have gone differently. If one of the babies had been on the side of the car where the impact was- this would be different. If there wasn't a center turn lane the driver would have hit us head on- this would have been different. If we had taken a smaller car- this would have been different. Different for us and different for that driver.

So who was the lucky one? I can say without a doubt that myself and my family are lucky. God had angels wrap their arms around us and keep us all safe. Especially those babies. But I hope this young man realizes that he is lucky too. I hope he sees this for the lesson that it is. I hope he NEVER makes that decision again. A few beers with buddies can change your life forever. It can change the lives of people you don't even know forever. So many drunk drivers continue to drive drunk, tipsy, etc. because they haven't had a night like this YET. I hope that not only does this young man choose to never drive after drinking again but I hope he can be a living witness to the people around him. I hope he speaks of his luck and understands that God graced him with a second chance that night.

In total he hit 8 people in 2 cars that night. Two families were effected by his actions. But again, by the grace of God, 8 people went home and slept in their beds that night. 8 people are alive and breathing still today. And 8 people will spread this story. Hopefully this night will keep others from drinking and driving. Because I don't know how luck is determined and where the luck falls. But that night it fell on all of us.