Well, the point I have been trying to make was given its very own exclamation mark yesterday evening. I came home from an extra-long day at work to be greeted by this:
The front of our house was hit by a neighbor a few houses up. We don't know her, nor do we want to. This all happened as my sister and I were preparing to leave Knoxville for the day, and in her state of shock, our mother called us first instead of the police. So as I drove as far above the speed limit as unsignaling semis pulling in front of me would allow, my sister worked on calling 9-1-1 (no easy feat when you are in a different county than the one where the emergency is actually happening), and my mother, now stuck inside the house, is only guessing as to what happened as she heard the porch being ripped from the front of the house. The only other exit from the house is out the patio doors and down some very steep steps off the pool deck that she has much difficulty maneuvering. By the time we pulled in the driveway, the street was blocked off by the fire department and the police, they were waiting for our electric utility to come settle some wiring questions, and the police cars were parked in front of the house down the street. The woman was arrested for DUI and I hope for leaving the scene of an accident, although I won't have the final police report until tomorrow. Yes, the genius hit the house (which incidentally does NOT sit anywhere near the road off which she came flying), left the scene, drove two houses down, and she went home as if nothing happened. Thankfully there were witnesses who tipped off the police.
I am grateful for many things. My mother was outside on that porch approximately 3 minutes prior to this woman charging through our yard as she brought the dogs in from their walk. The fact that she hit the house exactly at the porch's support beam saved us from the car actually coming through our living room. I was not yet home, so my car was not parked in its usual spot in front of the house or she would have taken it out too. The Rockwood Police and Fire Departments, as well as our electric utility board were kind, gracious, and helpful, and took immediate action in arresting the person responsible. There were witnesses who came forward and made sure the right thing was done. Our insurance company will be here tomorrow to assess the damage and hire someone to make the necessary repairs. And I work for a FABULOUS boss who, when I called her in my time of stress to ask off work today, was concerned about me and my well-being, not my attendance at work, freeing me up to take care of the insurance company, the mortgage company, attorneys, and police reports, as well as a VERY frazzled mother and some stressed out and confused dogs (they don't quite understand why their routine of going outside via the front door has been altered). And I have a gazillion friends who took the time to text, call, and check on us and offer up help and support in anything that might be needed. Yes, I have much for which to be thankful.
You just never know how your day will end up. Count your lucky stars when the day ends without major mishap or disaster, even if you wish it could have gone just a little better. It ALWAYS could have gone worse.
Now I am off to take more pictures for the insurance company and find someone to remove the heap of trash that was once my front porch. :)
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