A Story No One Else Knows

I'm going to tell y'all a story I've never told anyone else:

Years ago, I almost got myself killed.

It was my first car, a used Mustang, the road was wet, and the stop was one way. With heavy cross traffic. The traffic cleared, and I turned left. And the car immediately spun out of control. I remember doing a 180, I remember seeing a big red truck coming at me, then spinning away, then there was the huge *thump* of going through the ditch and bouncing up a hill. I skidded, and then stopped.

I was in the vacant lot across the street from where I'd started. It was a nice, cleared lot, but with large old oak trees all through it. It was up for sale. My car had stopped in the middle of three bunches of these trees. One on each side, and one right in front of me. The trees on the drivers side were so close that I had to climb over and out through the passenger side.

I checked the car for damage, nothing.

Not a scratch, not a ding. Just some sod stuck under the front bumper. I crawled back through, started the car, and carefully maneuvered myself back out and drove off the lot along the very edge, onto a side street, where the ditch was almost non-existant. I drove home, and I never told anyone, because I was scared I'd get in trouble for almost wrecking the car. It never crossed my mind that my parents would be *happy* I wasn't hurt. I hadn't thought about this in years, really. I don't have that car anymore, I don't live in the same place, so I don't use that road anymore.

Yesterday, I drove to the mall, and I took the back roads, wanting to avoid traffic. And I found myself at a stop light, waiting for it to turn so I could turn right. And I realized...this was the same intersection.

The trees are all still there, in the same places. The rest of the lot has been totally cleared and developed. There's a church there now. I looked at those trees, and I still don't know why I didn't smash into at least one of them. There are so many, and I was spinning out of control.

I don't know, but I'm happy to be here, and in three days, I'll be Catholic.

Yes, I'm having issues with some things, and I may (honestly), not remain Catholic. But I'm certainly closer to God than I've been in decades.