The "DUI Accident" Story

It was an ordinary day. After supper, my wife Carol, six month old daughter Brynn and Carol's friend Sharon are off to a La Leche League meeting and won't return until later tonight. Sharon is a long time neighbor who lives next to my Mom and Dad, down the street from us. Carol is driving to the meeting in our new 1974 Pinto which we bought about six months ago. Our first new car in many years. We traded in a 1972 Ford Station Wagon for the Pinto. The Ford was a car used by Hamilton Bank as a courier vehicle. When we first bought it from the bank, we searched all through it to see if they might have misplaced some money in it. No luck! The sub-compact Pinto is a station wagon with a 4 cylinder engine, bucket seats, automatic trans and a neat Robin's egg blue color. Perfect for a family of four. My son Derek and I are heading down the street to visit with my Mom and Dad. They moved to the 900 block of Janet Ave. in 1963 while Carol and I moved to the other end of the block in 1969. After a short visit we return and I start to get Derek ready for bed. Doesn't take long for him to get to sleep and I settle down to watch a little TV before Carol and Brynn return. I start to doze and........the phone startles me. "We've been in an accident, but everyone is OK!" Carol tells me. I'm wide awake by now!! "What about Brynn and Sharon?" I reply. "They're both fine. Some guy came over into my lane and hit us head-on. He got our of his car and took off. I saw it coming and I yelled to Sharon to to hang onto Brynn. Sharon cupped Brynn's head and cradled her against her chest. We both had our seat belts on, luckily." Back in the early to mid 1970s they didn't have the laws about children being in seats in the back seat. See why they made them!!! "Where are you now?" I asked. Carol tells me, "It happened on President Ave. and neighbors, Allen and Nancy T. have us in their house. He says he's on the school board at your school." "OK, give me the address and I'll be there as soon as I can," I tell her. I get the address, call Mom to come up to stay with Derek and head to President Ave. Hey, it's hard to believe that they weren't injured after seeing the car. The police told me they found the driver a few blocks away. After making arrangements for the towing, we head home. The driver was charged with driving under the influence of drugs. The car was totaled! We needed a new car, again! "How about something real big," Carol said. Ditto!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.