FIVE QUICK YEARS + Our Accident





Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

***

When I first started blogging, on January 16, 2005, I had no idea it was possible to become famous by writing a blog. And after five years here, I am not famous by any means of measurement, nor is that my hope. I started my first blog, Just Ask Judy, to be a place where prospective brides and their mothers could come for advice about flowers and commiseration over wedding planning from someone who had nothing to gain from it. I soon realized that no brides or mothers were finding my little spot on the web, so I began to post about anything that popped into my head - and here we are five years later.What have I learned? That a feeling of close community can be easily built with regular posting/reading/commenting. That I had no idea how much awareness of and deep feelings of compassion, zest and reverence for life, simple friendship and gratitude would be possible with a group of people whom I have never met (although I have been privileged to meet some) and most likely, won't.

Thanks to those of you who read here daily, and to those who happened here by accident. You have given me more pleasure and friendship than many whom I see regularly in my real life. I hope we will always be friends.

***

And speaking of accidents, we had one on Thursday. We were on our way to the health club and stopped at a red light about 1.5 miles from our home. I glanced into the rear view mirror just in time to see a Jeep barreling down the road coming straight toward us. When he hit us, I thought for sure we'd be knocked into the path of oncoming, left-turning traffic, but luckily, there was enough room that didn't happen. I called 911 and was told that a state trooper would be with us shortly. 'Shortly' turned into an hour. The trooper said there wasn't enough damage to file a report, but my head was (and still is) hurting, as well as my back, so we thought a report would help to cover any future trips to the doctor or chiropractor. It may be only stress, but I want to be sure it isn't more.

The young man who hit us was, of course, very apologetic. He was also extremely polite, for which I was grateful. Trouble was, he asked us to lie to the trooper about who was driving, and fully admitted that he has not had a valid driver's license since he was 18 (he is now 34). He is also on probation for driving without a license. I am hopeful that this will be a good learning experience for him.

Addendum: Apparently I have given the impression that we might have lied to the state trooper. We did not, of course. I felt sorry for the young man, but I wasn't going to jeopardize myself by lying for him. He wouldn't learn anything from that (and may not anyway).