it could have been us

Brandon, Mom, Dad and I said a prayer before I took my little brother back to Philly. The ride up was nice, it was sunny through Baltimore all the way to Philly. Brandon slept the last leg of the trip which was cool. I would look over to him every now and then just glad that he was there...he's growing...he's a college man. I just sometimes have to sit back and think...wow, my brother is growing up too, my height now, not so little anymore :)

anyway, he needed to get some clippers from a Target up there but we got lost on the way. This added about an hour on my trip. I was a little frustrated but in hindsight, it was just more time to spend with him. Well, on the way back I'm driving along at a good pace, anticipating an arrival back in DC around 10:30...I happen to see a prompt about 20 miles north of Aberdeen saying there was an accident on I-95 and that all four lanes are closed (use exit 85 or 80). So, I stop at the Chesapeake house for gas and some food, call home to get directions on the detour. People are at the rest stop talking about the accident(s). Apparently around 5 or so there was a major storm that dropped visibility on the highway to 0. I didn't really get a grasp of how bad things were until I got home but there were 11 separate accidents involving 50+ cars on a five-mile stretch of the highway. All night, many scenarios ran through my head. What if Brandon and I had left earlier (which was the plan all along)...and I had been going through the White Marsh area of MD (just north of Baltimore) around the time of the accident. It could have easily been me. So, for once, my oversleeping served a higher purpose in a sense. I just remember taking exit 85 and going over the ramp staring south and seeing all those red lights...cars stopped. I got off the highway just in time...although the detour added a few hours on to my trip, I got home in one piece and in the end, that's all one can hope for.