August 2011
We have lived in this house for three years now and the outdoor garbage can has been in the same place all three of those years. Mr. Wind seemed to have quite an attitude this summer, nearly taking our trampoline to the neighbors yard, knocking in part of the playhouse, blowing our electrical dump pile all over the fields around us, ripping several shingles off our roof (which the boys didn't mind at all replacing), and he seemed to have some trashy vendetta against our garbage can. Several times he blew it over while it innocently waited by the road for the garbage man to come, but even more annoying than that was when he dumped our garbage can into the window well, not only once but three times! He couldn't ever do it on a Wednesday after the garbage had been picked up. Nope, he always chose a Sunday or Monday when it was chuck full.
Big Blue now lives in the garage.
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Getting a we've-been-in-an-accident-and-I-need-a-phone-number phone call leaves plenty of room for panic. Luckily, the one to call was LeRoy, not an officer, and he quickly told me that he and Derek were okay but couldn't give me details right then. It was a long 2 1/2 hours before I got the full story and could see both of my boys to know they were for sure doing alright.
LeRoy was pulling a rented mini excavator home after a day's work, moving slowly because of the winds. Even with all his caution the trailer carrying the mini started fish tailing. The area that he was in had a drop off on one side so he did his best to control the truck to the opposite side of the road and told Derek to hold on as the trailer and mini went on it's side first, pulling the truck over as well. The trailer and mini continued rolling, crushing the cab of the mini and destroying all it's controllers.
This experience could have turned out so differently and as I think back on the finer details it is obvious that the blessings far outweigh any hardships that came from this. Sure, we were without a truck, we were suddenly in an insurance battle over the repairs of the mini, the truck was eventually labeled "totalled" and we had to find and make purchasing arrangements for a new truck before the whole thing was settled BUT
1) they didn't go over the side of the mountain.
2) There were no major injuries - Derek did have sore knees from being thrown into the dash and a seat belt burn from hanging in his belt until LeRoy could climb over him and out the passenger window - they didn't want Derek to go out first in case he fell on LeRoy while trying to get out.
3) I was so grateful to be fighting the insurance, or rather, having LeRoy make all those necessary phone calls with the insurance and attorneys, instead of me making major medical decisions or funeral arrangements without LeRoy.
3) The mini only had minor damage to it so the cost to us was minimal. Certainly not cheap but it could have been a whole lot more.
4) Our insurance reimbursed us enough for our truck to pay off the mini and still set us up to get another truck that left us with a lower loan balance and monthly payment.
5) Derek drives with a caution that I have yet to see from my other teen drivers. He doesn't drive with fear but with awareness, knowing full well how quickly something can happen.
It's still a mystery how LeRoy walked away with no injuries. His window was knocked out as it hit the road but his head did not hit the window or the road. Even with the shattered glass around him he did not have one cut. The driver's side dash and floor area was compressed into an A and yet LeRoy's hands, legs and feet were unaffected. Our biggest concern was his back. He did feel a little sore and we weren't sure if it was a new injury or just from being jarred around and then climbing out the window like a contortionist. After an MRI scan we were relieved to find that his back is in a lot better shape than any of the previous scans before his three surgeries.
Two weeks later:
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