Couple years back, my wife was at work and I was out at her parents house with her fam havin a bbq. They live out in the country, big wide open yard, etc, nice place to hang out in the summer.
My little girl was playin with her cousins and such, no big, she'd just learned to walk/run and what not, at one point she just flat took off runnin down the pavement. Neighbor lives about a mile away down this pavement, and it's wide open, so no worry, let her run and run, no harm can come of it that direction.
That direction.
Finally, she tires, eventually makes her way back to where everyone else is. I'm sittin in a chair on the patio with fam, the kids playin on the pavement under the basketball hoop.
So we sittin there, and my daughter starts throwin rocks, and I call out her name, tell her to stop throwin rocks little girl, and BOOM, she takes off sprinting again.......the other direction....
the direction of the road/BACK, road.
In an instant, I am off and running.
In my head (we're talking split second thinking), i remembered her running forever the other direction, she didn't stop remember? That's what I pictured when she ran to the road this time.
Now, if she stopped after 12 feet, I'd look pretty stupid jumping up after her right?
Well.........I'm off the chair in an instant, I take maybe 3 steps at top speed already (that parental thing that gives you 4.1 speed you don't really have) and on step #4, I hear it..........of course, an engine. A truck, engine.
Maybe a Ford F-250, 150, 350, whatever, just a truck. Not a semi, but enough of a truck that a toddler ain't gonna take it in the grill too well.
Again, in my brain, split second, I have one single thought.........."really?" Really, this is happening, really? Really ************.
I am literally gritting my teeth, I am FULLLLLLLL speed sprinting as she gleefully runs as fast as her little legs will take her. I hear my sister in law SCREAMING her name, I am absolutely burning grass with my shoes, i swear to you. I was a good distance away, sort of a triangle from where she was, where I was, and where we would meet up.
As she's nearing the road, i do hear the engine is slowing up, not because they see her (they can't, there's a huge mound there where the pavement driveway meets the road) but i think they see me sprinting and wondering what the hell I am doing, just as we are about 3 steps from the road, with my left hand I get near her shoulder, and with my right I swing thru the back of her knees, swooping her up into my arms. I was afraid I would grab her shoulder, and in her "fun, being chased by daddy" moment might lunge forward or something out of my grasp so I wanted to sweep her legs out from under her.
As I sweep her up and squeeze the hell out of her, I turn and see my brother in law in full sprint about 6 steps behind me. He would not have made it if I wasn't on the ball.
The truck did slow, I waved at them a sort of thank you, sorry type wave, as I squeezed harder on my little princess.
My whole life, lfashed in that moment.
Last month, my wife and I were in the car and that subject came up. It tears her heart apart when her family tells her about how fast I ran, how scared they were, etc. I was desribing it to her, just as I did to you all just now.
In that instant of discussion, we were in a head on collision with an old man who pulled out in front of us, totalling our car. I was mid sentence when my wife slammed on the breaks and half a second later we slammed into him.
Hopefully the ceiling doesn't collapse on me as I hit send on this here now.
The two scariest moments of my life, years apart, are forever joined at the hip.
