Taking it In the Rear

...No, not like that! I got rear ended yesterday and really I don't have much to say about it except that it sucked and it was scary and I had my two kids with me and if my van was not such a beast, I believe that we would have been in a very large multi-car accident!! Ok, I have a little bit more to say...
Yesterday was back to school night for my school and I had to take the kids to my parents' house and then rush back to school for the evening. I was really in a hurry...I had promised some other teachers I would meet them for dinner before the "festivities" began. I was driving safely, obeying laws and limits...seriously, no joke! I was on an off ramp that becomes and on ramp, it's Jersey- everything is like that, when BAM! I can't even put the sound into words! But yeah BAM..my head flies forward and slams back against my seat. Addison is silent and Nicholas says his leg hurts...I'm dazed. Honestly, I don't know what to do. My experience with accidents is so limited that I really am lost at this point. Both kids are buckled in and Nicholas looks fine, Addison seems fine too. I am not looking forward to surveying the damage- an insurance premium and deductible is not something we can afford right now! I stop for a minute, grab my cell phone- we've pulled over at this point- and get out of the car to see what's what. The other person, who, to me, looks like a man, has not gotten out of their car yet and I promptly look at them and yell, "I've got two kids in my car, what the hell were you thinking??" Turns out, not a man but an older woman, with a cane, who is fairly overweight...GREAT! She gets out, hobbles over and says to me, not I'm sorry, but "You think I did this on purpose?!?!?"
I was dumbfounded! Fine, yeah, you didn't do it on purpose- I'm rational, I get that. But could you maybe apologize?? She begins to tell me that she's just been at the doctor and she was nervous about the news she got, etc. and she was preoccupied. And what happens?? MY ability to be an angry bitch all of a sudden goes away and I become understanding..."oh, ok you're shaken up over medical news, I'm sorry." WTH?!?!?! She just crashed into me and endangered the lives of my two kids, me, and other people on the road. If you were that preoccupied you shouldn't have been driving!! I'm shaken at this point...calling 911 means at least an hour on the high way exchanging numbers, insurance, etc. It means police officers and honestly, it's going to mean a trip to the hospital because the kids are going to need to be checked according to what I know from police and other people. I haven't even surveyed the damage....I'm too busy listening to Lead Foot Lucy over here who is having medical issues. You want medical issues, have I got a story for you!?!?
So, damage time...her car? Pristine!! Seriously, NOT A SCRATCH ON IT!! My car, my moving fortress of doom, PRISTINE! I am still shocked by this! I'm not even kidding...there is nothing..no damage to either car...NOTHING! This woman hit us doing at least 20 mph- ok not super fast, but still. I don't know what to make of this...I'm not sure what to think. I looked at her and she looked at me and we both were shocked. The consensus immediately became, no damage? No scratches or injuries? No cops. I was ok with this...I'm still ok with this decision. There's nothing to be fixed or repaired.
I do wonder what was at work yesterday on the highway. I do believe that God was watching out for me but I have to ask, "why did it happen?". Things happen for a reason and part of me wonders if I wasn't put there so that Lead Foot Lucy could get her wake up call to pay attention. Or to make her realize that her medical issues aren't so bad when you think of the alternatives. I really don't know...I doubt I'll ever know and that drives me a little nuts because it was scary and I didn't enjoy it and we could've been seriously hurt. But we weren't...we're ok..she never apologized, that bothers me, but hopefully she'll be paying attention and next time she won't kill someone.
So, my van took it in the rear yesterday, literally and figuratively, and we survived and we learned and we move on. Just goes to show, someone has to be looking out for us!