It was a divided highway. I was driving in the left-hand lane. In Oklahoma, we recognize that as the – Exceed-The-Speed-Limit lane of traffic. The highway wasn’t particularly crowded, but there were a number of cars on the other side of the median, coming in my direction.
Most of them were flashing their headlights on and off.
Speed trap ahead, I thought to myself. I began scanning the shoulder up ahead, trying to locate the Highway Patrol cruiser with the radar gun. I was about to give up when I spotted him, driving in the inner lane, red-lights flashing, headlights blinking. But, I couldn’t see anyone being chased. All the northbound cars had pulled over to the outside lane, still flashing their headlights about the speed trap.
Weird, I thought.
I looked back at my own lane, where a large sedan was headed directly for me. Going the wrong way. I’m doing seventy-miles-per-hour. We’re closing fast.
Really fast.
There wasn’t even a second to shout. Or cuss. I looked up, saw the impending head-on collision, and in the same moment in time – the car whizzed by my door.
I guess I had jerked the steering wheel. At any rate, the next thing I know I’m driving at seventy-miles-an-hour in the outside lane. The Highway Patrol cruiser is visible in my rear view mirror – he’s pacing the car that’s headed in the wrong direction, maybe trying to get him to stop or pull onto the shoulder, I don’t know.
There wasn’t even time to be nervous or scared when it happened, but I got the shakes afterward. There were two of us in the front seat of my car. We both would have died.
I can’t really solve the mystery of actions or reactions that happen outside the thinking process. Instinct, maybe. Some would call it Divine Intervention. The crazy thing is, I’ve had similar incidents in which the outcome was Whew! What a close one! – rather than suffering through trips to the emergency room. I thought about that driving episode when I read about the boy falling from a third-story apartment today.
Maybe that toddler will wonder one day about the serendipity of it, or the Divine Intervention, that allowed his fall from a third-floor apartment balcony to be interrupted by a man and woman who happened to be carrying their bed on the sidewalk this afternoon.
If you didn’t see the story, you can read it here: Reuters News
In a nutshell, the three-year old was tossing toys from a window or balcony and decided to climb out after them. After less than a minute of precarious clinging, gravity prevailed. Here’s that amazing part. The guy moving the mattress glanced up, saw the kid a moment before he fell, and positioned the bedding on the sidewalk as a safety net backup as he tried to catch the boy.
Konrad Lighter managed to grab the kid. Neither is the worse for wear. What should have been – by all circumstances – a heart-wrenching accidental death, will be remembered as a childhood incident that made the news. Mr. Lighter is the hero of the event, not because he acted bravely, but because he Acted. Reacted to the situation. Moved faster than he had time to think.
You can call it a miracle, or whatever you like.
It was certainly a lucky day for moving the bedroom furniture on the sidewalk below the apartments. At least, it was lucky for one three-year-old toy tosser.
Some true stories are more outrageous than fiction. You’ll find both kinds on the book shelves when you –
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McHuston
Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main St. Broken Arrow OK!