breathe.

I was watching this.


and this.
We lost by 1 point after 2 hours of game play, so a chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream cone seemed in order.

A few seconds after pulling out of Braum's parking lot, the van in front of me was broadsided by a car running a red light.

The van flipped end over end, then flipped again horizontally, spinning silently in the air before crashing to the pavement on its side. It rolled to a stop upside down. Somehow the flying metal pieces of car and glass missed us.

The driver of the van crawled out of the window and collapsed on the highway. Passengers left their cars and raced to her side. She tried to get back into the van. Someone was still trapped inside.

It was in slow motion, the entire thing. When the van went airborne, I just happened to be directly beside a drive through, and could leave the road. I dialed 911, ice cream cone still in hand. I turned to hand it to Lu, feeling incongruous dripping peanut butter cup while giving specifics to the dispatcher.

When the dispatcher let me go, I got back in the car to leave for home, sirens in the distance. I turned to look at my Lu and her sweaty, dirty, post-softball game face was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Two seconds quicker through the drive through at Braums, and that van was us.

Kiss your babies tonight. I did.