“It is a curious thing, the death of a loved one. We all know that our time in this world is limited, and that eventually all of us will end up underneath some sheet, never to wake up. And yet it is always a surprise when it happens to someone we know. It is like walking up the stairs to your bedroom in the dark, and thinking there is one more stair than there is. Your foot falls down, through the air, and there is a sickly moment of dark surprise as you try and readjust the way you thought of things.”― Lemony Snicket, Horseradish
for surprising me,” Laura said. She reached over the center console and held her husband’s hand.
Joe responded with a smile and kissed her hand. “When I couldn’t remember the last time we went on a date, I decided it was time.”
“I’m going to text the kids and let them know we’re on our way home.” Laura let go of Joe’s hand and reached for her purse to get her phone.
Deemed the “Mary Poppins bag” by her kids, that purse seemed to have anything a person could need. Illustrating that point, she pulled out a bottle of Tums and passed two to her husband while she kept digging around with her other hand for her phone. He popped them into his mouth without taking his eyes off the road. There were many small moments like this that they had shared over the years; the routine made it special.
Finally finding her phone, Laura sent a text to the kids, then sat back and stared out the window at the lights of the oncoming traffic. She hated I-81, always had, even as a kid. Busy and crowded at the best of times with tractor trailers hauling goods up and down the east coast, college kids traveling to and from the many colleges that lived off the exits, campers from the constant stream of vacationers and nature lovers, and finally the local traffic, like Joe and Laura, trying to get from one small town to another, made the highway constantly clogged.
Normally, they wouldn’t have taken 81 as their small family farm wasn’t far from town, but Joe had to go down to Broadway to get a part for their tractor before dinner. At least, that had been the plan. When they arrived, they found out the guy had just sold the part to someone else. Joe’s brother, Rob, told him about a guy in Mt. Jackson that may have one, so after dinner they got what they needed. The tractor had stopped working nearly a week ago and they’ve been searching all over for the part. Now they were finally on their way home.
Laura’s phone chimed with a new text. She grabbed her big bag and hauled it onto her lap to dig out her phone again.
“Benny says they’re watching movies and eating pizza,” she said, reading the text to Joe. “Tess is hiding behind a pillow. They’re watching The Shining.”
Joe sighed. “Are we going to have Tess sleeping between us tonight?”
“She’s 16,” Laura said.
“Yes, and that didn’t stop her during the last thunderstorm.” His tone was resigned.
Now it was Laura’s turn to sigh. But she was smiling.
Her kids were her everything. She would never turn down the chance to cuddle with them during a storm or just spend time with them. Luckily, neither of her kids seemed to mind spending time with their parents. Even though he was 19 and starting his own life, Benny was always working with Joe on the farm. Joe never made him. Benny just wanted to. He enjoyed fixing the equipment with his dad. Laura knew Joe was excited to spend Sunday putting the new part on the tractor with Benny. Tess still spent just as much time with Laura. She loved to help in the kitchen and was becoming quite the good cook. Maybe they could have Ruby over and do some baking tomorrow after church while Benny and Joe fixed the tractor.
Lost in her own happy thoughts of spending the next day with her family, Laura didn’t see the car from the other side of the interstate lose control and come across the median. It was a pretty big median and most of it had guard rails or geographic terrain that would’ve made it near impossible for a car to get across, but there were some small sections here and there that had no barriers. Joe and Laura were driving by such a section right now. Most cars on 81 average about 80 mph in speed despite the 65 mph speed limit. The car had the momentum needed to get across the median and land on the other side in oncoming traffic.
It landed right in front of Joe and Laura’s four-door F-150 truck. The last thing they saw were the car’s headlights blinding them. Joe didn’t even have time to brake before hitting the car head on. The last sounds they heard were breaking glass and crunching metal. And their last thoughts were of their kids waiting for them to come home.