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Subject: [CLOUGH-L] Re: By a miracle, I am still here, and so is my GENEalogy.
Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 01:02:46 EDT


Dearest Cousins,

Last Saturday the 29th I was on my way to meet a distant birth cousin in
Lansing, MI, for the first time. Plans were to meet, have lunch, and visit
the Michigan State U. library to do some GENEalogy research together. I was
so excited! I had loaded up ALL of my nine fat notebooks full of my paper
family and documents so that we could share more information and just have
some fun together. (I would love so much to be able to meet more of my birth
family members face-to-face instead of just on paper or on the internet!)

Well, I didn't make it very far. It was raining, with lots of water on the
road. I had just gotten on I 94 (main expressway from Detroit to Chicago),
and hit a great deal of water on a bridge, hydroplaned (no, I was wasn't
speeding and traffic had been passing ME) spun around as if on ice, crashed
into the guardrail and broke it, and flipped upside down into the center
ditch, leaving me hanging upside down from my seatbelt. A police officer
told me had I missed the two more feet of guardrail left, I would have ended
up in the 3 westbound lanes of traffic!

To God I am thankful because He is the reason I am still here, although I
don't understand why. I only ended up with some very sore muscles in my
neck, back, and shoulders, and a mild concussion. The car, 2 years old and
just paid off, was totaled. Fortunately, no other vehicles were involved and
no one else got hurt.

My thoughts as I was spinning around at that speed was that this was going to
be bad, the car (just 2 years old and just paid off) would certainly be
destroyed, my husband would be angry, and where was I going to end up. I
didn't have time to be afraid. God's hands were certainly there and I was in
them. When I came to a stop, hanging upside down, silly, but all I could
think about was whether or not all my GENEalogy notebooks were strewn all
over on the wet road and across I 94 in the rain and the traffic (which I had
backed up for miles). But God protected that, too, and it was all safe in
the trunk!

Moral of my story is: DRIVE EVEN SLOWER in the rain, ALWAYS wear your
seatbelt, and know that God is with you! And, for me, don't put off meeting
your birthfamily, because life might be shorted than you think!

Your secret cousin,
Linda


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