That Phone Call

A few days ago I got the phone call every parent fears..."Mom, I've been in an accident."

My son was visiting his best friend, a football player at Indiana University, when they were involved in a car accident in the middle of the night. My son was driving his car when another driver exited a tunnel and hit them, thankfully no one was injured.

I arranged to take a couple of days off work, called a friend to watch my dog and jumped in the car to drive to Bloomington Indiana to deal with insurance, have the car towed (his car is a total loss) and bring my son home to Chicago. During the 5 hour drive my partner Paul, whose son is a sophomore at the University where my son was, arranged a hotel reservation for me in Bloomington and I called my insurance agent to start a claim.

It's funny, what you think of when you are leaving someplace quickly in an emergency. Knowing I was going to be there overnight, I grabbed a pillow, pajamas, my laptop and phone charger. And then totally random things like apples (my son loves apples). Of course I forgot cash but thank goodness for banks in rural small Indiana towns.

My son had posted a picture of the accident on his Facebook page and as a result I posted a message on my FB page that he was ok. I received such wonderful messages from around the world from friends and family happy that he was safe. It takes a village to raise a child, whether in our hometown or virtual, we are surrounded by love.