the first horseman of the apocalypse December 2001([posted Aug 2003)

My parents had bailed me out on several occasions with rent mostly, and they helped me when I was trying to leave the Daddyman by buying a reliable car for me to drive when I couldn't get a car loan, and paying the security deposit when I moved out with the girls. Of course that was right when the signs of the apocalypse started presenting themselves.

Right after I moved out (Dec 2001)I was driving home from the rents with eep and the mina(at night) and was suddenly in a dense white fog. I, not being able to see at all, braked. Braking made me start to skid and therefore I let off the brake and switched lanes. I couldn't slow down in the left lane either, I was still sliding when I braked, and worse yet I felt like the minivan was leaving my control. "I'll pull onto the shoulder where there is dirt and grass and brake there.." I thought. Miraculously I successfully changed lanes again, but slid in the gravel while braking once I'd reached the shoulder. I didn't realize there was a very steep incline dropping about a foot from the freeway shoulder and I cried aloud when my minivan rolled. Once righted the van proceeded forward and I had to break and turn the car off to stop it. I was terrified that it would explode since firey explosions are the result of every car crash I'd ever seen in film and TV. I grabbed my purse and thew it clear of the van as I ran around to the passenger side to get my kids out. My kids calm reflected the calm I was projecting to them and they both said they were all right as I released them from their seatbelts and we got clear of the van. There was already a State Trooper and several passerby at the shoulder at the top of the incline. No one was hurt, and the accident didn't appear to be my fault. (What had happened was the car in front of me had their radiator hose blow. Antifreeze/coolant is as slippery as ice, and clings to your tires, so that was why I slid even after changing lanes. It was considered a no fault accident but my van was totaled.) The only time anyone cried was when I went to the van to see if I could find my insurance info. Mina(4) didn't want me to leave her. Since everthing in the van flew everywhere I couldn't find a thing. The inside of the van looked like a dumpster that had been dropped from a plane.

We were all very brave and very blessed of course.