We got a phone call from Hallie one evening explaining there had been an accident with her car. I was calm, but I could tell she was not. Her story was a little jumbled and I was having a hard time following what she was telling me. So I started breaking the story down to understand.
She was okay.
She actually wasn’t in the car when it was hit.
With those two pieces of information I knew everything was going to be just fine. I asked if the car was drivable and she wasn’t sure because the jeep hitch was still resting on top of the car.
We showed up to find a large group of teenagers standing in the yard while Hallie and her friend were waiting by the cars. The jeep’s hitch and metal tow hooks nestled right into the much smaller hood of the Honda Accord.
Her friend, clearly frazzled, was so apologetic but also quite frustrated. Hallie was parked behind him on the street. He was trying to leave and some friends thought it would be funny to box him in on his front end. He didn’t see Hallie’s car behind so he quickly reversed and everyone witnessed the sound of metal on metal. Boom, crash.
Luckily, no one was hurt – although her friend was more than a little embarrassed which then turned to frustration. I’m so glad that Hallie’s first “accident” was a simple one like this. Ironically, in all our years of marriage, we’ve only had two car accidents; both of which someone backed into two different silver Honda accords, messing up both grills/hoods – what are the odds!
