The past few weeks have been very crazy here.
My oldest daughter graduated high school on the 19th. They had their senior "lock in" that evening, and we had to take off early the next morning for a day at her college selecting courses for the fall-
Somehow I managed to have my mother present at the graduation ceremonies, which was something important to me. My daughter is her first granddaughter. And the graduation of your first grandchild is special. My mother was excited and even bought a new outfit to wear.
Meanwhile, my brother insulted me into planning a graduation party.
I really wasn't "up" for any big party thing- i mean how much of a party could it be when mom and my twin sister couldn't be there? but he convinced me that i should celebrate the occasion, and between work, the days at moms, and just life, i managed to plan a party.
And it was good for me-
I love to decorate and my daughter wanted an orange/yellow theme-
ummmmmm no, these aren't the school colors. they are her favorite ones tho.
I purchased two big market umbrellas - they were absolutely perfect....yellow and orange stripes and put them on white resin tables in the yard....sunflowers as centerpieces along with some pretty orange and yellow boxes i found at the dollar store and filled with candies and nuts-
I catered most of the food, made endless lists, and even planned a way to get my sister and mother here for an hour.
Despite some things not working out exactly as i'd imagined, the party was very nice, and my daughter and her friends had a great time. It was good to see family and friends who I just haven't had time for this year at all---
Two of my daughter's friends slept here the night of the party, and at 6am they were "up" and out the door to visit IHOP for breakfast. they took my middle daughter with them.
They were home before 8, and oldest was leaving immediately to attend her first day in a course at the community college- i left to go to mom's at the same time.
Around 10:45 my cell rang.
I was on a conference call, but muted the phone and picked up my cell.
"First, she's ok"
I don't think i was breathing at that point.
"She fell asleep at the wheel. She hit a tree. But she's ok. There's a policeman with her, and he's going to call a tow truck and then drop her home."
She was only 3 miles from the house.
I picked up my purse and the laptop and ran out the door.
It's a 45 minute ride so i had lots of time to think about the "what ifs"-
Asleep at the wheel?
What if it were the highway? There's no dividers......
What if it had been this morning on the way to IHOP with my younger daughter and two other girls in the car?
What if there had been children on the residential road where she hit the tree?
Scenario after scenario running thru my head- none of them good.
At home she was in tears. She hadn't slept the night of the party- And since the girls were in the attic, and I finally turned the lights out down here just before 2, i just assumed they'd slept a bit-
But not a wink.
She'd been up late Saturday helping me get ready for the party....and up early Sunday morning-
I didn't even consider this. I just didn't even think about it.
It's so hard to think logically when your emotions take over-
I had already made the decision that since she's 18, and since we'd gotten her the car, that we weren't bailing her out of this situation. She would have to pay all the bills, including to fix the car, which is probably not worth fixing anyway- we won't find that out until probably next week, but the axle was off and the steering column moved - for sure the radiator is history- we're just waiting to find out if the trans is shot, or the block cracked.....or the frame damaged. then for sure the car is history-
Wednesday I took her to pay the towing and storage fees. And Thursday my husband took her to the property owner's home- The tree and grass were messed up, and we heard that he was at home and angry and yelling at the cop about irresponsible teenagers who should never be allowed to drive. i can't say as i blame him. if someone had driven on my front lawn and into a tree on my property, i'd sure be upset- explaining that to a teenager is harder than it might seem-
mom, the tree has a gash, and the grass is a little messed up.....
i don't care. the point is you don't get to decide the damage- the point is you were in the wrong. and as the property owner, he gets to decide....the right thing to do is pay him a visit. apologize, and offer to pay for the damages.
Hard lessons. But necessary.
I can see that. But it doesn't make it any easier.
I can't say enough how grateful i am that she's ok, and able to learn from this.
So the week was difficult, but we managed.
That's the thing with families........
No matter how hard things get, you find a way to get through them.
And you come out the other side better for it.
