We Drove Home The Better Part Of 147 Miles With This Damage.
With our crazy schedules, it isn’t possible to visit Mom for the weekend. We have to drive up and back on the same day. So this Mother’s Day, that’s exactly what we did.
We had a really pleasant visit with my husband’s mother. We brought her irises from our garden, and a nice new vase to show them off in. We don’t get to spend as much time with her as we’d like. Mom is 91, and her health has really gone downhill since she became dependent on that damned scooter. But that’s a story for another day.
We stayed at Mom’s for as long as we could, then headed back home around 9:00 pm, stopping for a quick bite at the local sub shop before hitting the road.
Because we travel toward the setting sun for most of the drive home, my husband prefers to leave after the sun sets. Pleasantly full from the sandwiches, we settled in for a companionable drive and nice conversation that would help keep us both awake and alert.
The next thing I knew, my husband swore and slammed on the breaks. To our left a large deer seemed to come out of nowhere as it came running at an angle across the highway. My husband veered the car to the right, moving to the shoulder of the road, but was unable to avoid colliding with that poor, beautiful creature.
Because of my husband’s fast thinking, we were quickly decelerating and traveling at an angle to the freeway when the deer hit. As you can see from the photo above, the deer made a pretty big impression. The good news is we felt the impact, but we didn’t feel the animal under the car. We avoided running over him, preventing any damage under the car, and quite possibly saving the animal’s life.
At least I want to believe he survived. My husband seems to think the deer may have some broken bones, and will have “one helluva headache”, but should survive.
I’m really thankful my husband was driving. I don’t think I would have thought to veer off the road. I think I would probably have pulled the wheel to sharply and sent the car into a roll, and taken out the deer in the process. All in all, I’m thankful that we weren’t hurt, and the car isn’t in too bad a shape, considering.
But I can’t help thinking of the deer, and hoping that he survived.
Needless to say, this is one Mother’s Day I’ll remember for a very long time.
About The Author
Anita Cross is a marketing consultant and has been active online since 1995. Offline, Anita is passionate about her family, pets, and photography. She's a big movie buff and an avid reader, with Cozy Mysteries and Epic Fantasy at the top of her reading list.
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