Hit and run

I almost died yesterday.  Hannah almost died yesterday.

I realize that I talk about "killing" the kids all the time.  I joke about dying from the horror of some event, oh so dramatic.  I know that I posted a chalk outline of my body after I was "killed" in sock wars.  Yesterday, Hannah and I almost actually died.  There is a chance that we might not have been killed, just maimed. 

You know, your life does not flash before your eyes before you die, or almost die.  The intensity of the situation increases, things become clearer and you fight to survive.  In my situation, I grabbed my baby and hot footed it out of there.  I have no memory of doing that, but my friend who saw the whole thing told me I did. 

What I remember is seeing a car stopped at a corner.  No one coming in the on coming traffic, so Hannah and I stepped into the crosswalk.  The car stopped at the corner, turned left into us, gunning her engine, turning her vehicle in such a manner as to direct it towards us, and almost hit us.  I screamed and grabbed Hannah and booked it across the street.

Once safely, praise G-d, on the other side of the street, I looked at her.  Smoking her cigarette, with her processed brown hair, and her smokers' skin.  She flicked her hand at me annoyed that I was in her way.  She then proceeded to turn into the school parking lot.  Hannah and I, along with my back-up of 3 other moms and their kids, went and got her tag number.  Today, we will file a report with the police.

I hope they go to her house and scare the shit out of her, because she sure scared us.  Would it have been so hard to have stopped her car and apologized?  I nearly hit a woman when I was backing up in a parking lot.  Her husband alerted me to this fact.  I stopped the car, turned it off, leaped out of the car and the woman, old enough to have kids about my age, gave me hug, told me that it was ok.  I felt horrible, she apologized to me, and I almost hit her with my van.  I will always remember the grace with which she handled the situation.  I would like to think, had the driver of this car showed even a bit of concern, I would have shown such grace to her.

I will never forget the woman I almost hit, and I hope she is well.  I will never forget the woman who almost hit me.