Foggy Memories

 

This morning, I drove Noel to school in dense fog. We get fog like this often in the spring and fall, and it brings a few memories to mind; one good and one bad. The first one happened when I was a teenager, and the second one was in 2018. 

As a teenager, I went to a class at church before school with my sister. One morning when we were driving, we had the worst fog I had ever driven in, and it was dark which complicated the situation. I was fairly inexperienced and quite scared. As we got closer the the church, I finally had something to fix my eyes on to help me get there, the taillights of one of the teachers. This was a real life lesson for me of the importance of following someone with the experience to get me through tough things. 

Then in 2018, we had a foggy morning a lot like today. As I drove to work I couldn’t help but think how dangerous it was to be out driving and said a little prayer in my head for my kids whom I had just dropped off at the bus stop. I am thankful to this day that the prayer was answered. It did not turn out that way for everyone, though. The following day I found out that a friend of mine was in an accident as she took her son to school. He died on the scene; her son died upon arrival at the hospital; one of her daughters died a few days later; and her youngest came out of it with a broken leg. Her poor husband had to say goodbye to his wife and two of his children while taking care of an 18 month old with broken bones. Had her son son not missed the bus or the road she normally would have taken not been closed or the fog not been so dense that she didn’t see that stop sign, they may still be here. Instead, we went to a funeral for a 29 year old mom and her 6 and 3 year old children. 

Fog is more powerful that we think. It can teach us life lessons and take away our friends. I will never forget the relief I felt as I followed those tail lights or the wonderful person and her children that were taken too soon.

***I was completely stopped when I took the pictures.***