June 2017

LAST WORD
I
recently took a road trip to Atlanta.
My niece is having her first baby so
that warranted a trip to the shower.
It also gave me the opportunity to visit
with my son and my grandchildren,
along with my other nieces and
nephews. I have a lot of family in
Georgia, so it’s always nice when we
can get together. The preparation for the
trip was easy enough, the drive is pretty
straight. One of my sisters lives near me,
and of course, we drove up together.
Arriving alive is always a priority.
Almost a
Drive
Bye
by Barbara Negron
We almost didn’t make it.
Road trips are one of my favorite
pastimes. I don’t care if it’s an hour or
20 hours from here, I like to drive. I don’t
mind being a passenger either. As I see
it, the road leads to adventure. I’m not
a fan of adventure on the road though.
I respect the rules, maybe I go 10 miles
over the speed limit but I consider
keeping up with the flow of traffic good
driving. Some would disagree, but
that’s fine.
Back to the near-death story. As we, my
sister and I, were driving up the highway in
the right-hand lane, an 18-wheeler decides
to pull into traffic with no warning. None,
nada, zip. As my sister braces for impact,
I check my side view mirror to see if I
can move over without hitting someone.
Evidently, the Lexus that was in the middle
lane saw this and slowed down enough so
I could move over. I eased the car into the
middle lane, barely missing the back-end of
this truck on the passenger’s side.
I said a silent prayer for the Lexus driver
that he or she have a safe journey. Had
that driver not been paying attention, my
sister and I would have ended underneath
that 18 wheeler. I also asked that the
truck driver be a little more aware of his
surroundings.
That is basically my point. Drive like your life
depends on it because it probably does.
Pay attention, be aware. There is no text or
phone call or distraction of any kind worth
getting killed over.
Do I sound preachy? Maybe. I’d be
willing to bet most of you have had similar
experiences. So consider this a tale of
caution. I’m grateful it’s not a tale of woe. P
110
JUNE 2017