In an Instant

I’ve been married enough years now that I occasionally lose count.  I know Stuart’s and my anniversary is September 5th-but it seems the years have gone by in the blink of an eye.  In an instant.

Over the years, we have had our good moments and bad moments just like any other married couple.   I’ve sighed over the little things- just like Stuart has-things we wish we could fix in each other-but know it won’t ever happen.  There are certainly many moments we have taken each other for granted.

This last weekend, Stuart flew to Austin for a conference.  To get to the Seattle airport from Ellensburg-you have to drive over the Cascade mountain range.  It takes about 2 hours.  This isn’t a big deal in the summer-but in the winter it can be dicey if the weather doesn’t cooperate.

And this trip-when Stuart was trying to get home-the weather was really being a-(Well let’s just say it isn’t a very lady like word.)

Stuart flew into Seattle very late Sunday night-but the mountain pass was not in good driving condition.  And so I talked him into waiting until yesterday.  Early in the day, the pass closed due to multiple accidents and an avalanche.  While my husband bided his time waiting for the pass to open-he tried to find ways to kill some time at a nearby outlet mall.  I continued to monitor the pass report, and would call in updates to him. 

At one point when I called-he was looking at some new swim trunks for our next trip to Hawaii.  He was considering a pair in a bright blue hibiscus print.  He told me he’d already bought a new cordless drill-and was afraid of what else he might buy. ( He was so bored, he said-that even “Vitamin World” was starting to look interesting.)

Eventually, around 5:30 pm-the pass opened up and Stuart decided to go for it. 

I did not hear a word until  about 9:15 pm, and I could tell right away that something was wrong when I said hello.  There was a terror in Stuart’s voice. 

He’d had a close call.  A very close call.  And I had come within a hair’s width of losing him.  All in an instant.

He arrived home about 40 minutes later-tired and visibly shaken.  He seemed reluctant to talk about what had happened. (Later he told me-it involved losing control on ice, crossing down one side and up the other side of an embankment, nearly rolling our car- and ending up in the lane of oncoming traffic.  All when he was only driving about 35mph.  He was shocked at the momentum our car seemed to gather as this was happening.)

We had a pretty sleepless night.  Stuart was replaying the scene over and over-while I could only think about what it must have been like for him.  And  I kept thinking about those hibiscus shorts, and the new drill-and what my life would have been like without him…

So today, while Stuart is trying to get back that feeling of normalcy, I just want to give all of you-my sweet readers-a gentle reminder.  Tell those near and dear to you that you love them-and that you appreciate them.

It only takes an instant.