April 18, 2007
Risk
As long as we're on the subject of risks, I thought I would share something that happened on Monday night.
It's always a dilemma for me to write about the personal lives of others, but, since this incident was rather well covered in the local media due to its spectacular nature, and it is both a tragedy and a miracle, I decided to forge ahead. Of course I had my camera with me.
At about 12:30 AM on Monday night, I received an hysterical phone call from a dear and close personal friend. She was quite incoherent -- something about an explosion at her house. The police were there already, so I grabbed a blanket and a flashlight and rushed over.
When I arrived there were scores of fire engines and police cars outside. A white car was protruding from what was once her living room. I found my friend sitting on the couch in the the attached house next door, undone, but miraculously unscathed. She was terribly worried about the people in the car and about her cats (who were found the next morning, physically unharmed, but plastered against the wall under the bed in terror).
Tragically two high school seniors lost their lives. They had been speeding along the road which runs along the hill about ten feet above her house when they lost control of car on the wet pavement and took to the air, penetrating the wall of the house at eighty miles an hour. The police had been following them and so were right on the scene.
My friend was asleep on the second floor at the time of the impact. She awakened confused and walked down the stairs into the chaos and out the front door. She remembers calling to the people in the car, but there was no answer, and hearing the police do the same from outside. Thank goodness there was no fire.
As the evening wore on, she calmed down and began to look at the blessings that stemmed from this incredible accident. She will probably be placed on the top of the list for senior housing. Before this happened she had been planning to sell her house because it's on three levels joined by steep antique stairs, and is an increasing problem for her arthritic knees. The repairs needed before it could be put on the market were minor, numerous and daunting. Now insurance will cover everything, new furniture, new clothing, restoration of damaged possessions and the reconstruction of the building, which she says she'll never sleep in again. She plans to remodel and sell, though potential buyers might think twice.
Sadly there are no hidden blessings for the two boys who lost their lives and their families.
Last year a car hit the wall of the house next door, though there were no fatalities. When that happened, she felt at risk, and rightly so, as it turns out.
This is the view of her living room from the inside.
Photo note: see above
Posted by Dakota at April 18, 2007 04:08 PM