Two nights ago, I was out at a holiday party with some friends. We had gone to Cafeina Lounge after the party and around 1:30 AM and I asked my friend, Karla to take a picture of me in front of a wall of lights. I saw the glowing lights as a symbol since around that exact time 11 years ago, I had a severe car accident around 3 AM that changed my life 360 degrees. This picture, posted on Facebook, got over 130 likes and tons of commentary, the most ever since I have been on Facebook. I titled it “Celebrating Life.” I think that the ton of comments is because I added “ …11 years ago where I almost died and didn’t walk for a year.” Being on death’s door is something very scary!
Update December 17th: I showed my son this post and he cried after reading it saying that he was happy I was still with him. We both ended up crying and told him that God does everything for a reason.
Artículo en Español: Celebrando La Vida
Brushed with the closeness to death, something happened to me that triggered this sense of valuing my time on this earth. It awakened me to some kind of purpose of which s this blog, Mi Caminar, is a part of. It translates to My Walk.
After dancing and having some fun at Cafeina Lounge, I gave a ride home to my friend Maria. Strangely enough, after dropping her off, I found myself on the same cross street which changed my life, Red Road and Sunset Drive in South Miami almost at the exact time of 3AM December 15th, 2002! Totally serendipitous!
Back then, I had a little red Audi TT and was dating an Argentinian for 3 months and had taken him to a party of my friend, Patricia. I danced so much that night, that by the time I got in the car, I forgot to put on my seat belt and instantly fell asleep in the passenger seat. I had let this guy drive my car. He didn’t drink, but liked to drive fast.
On that same intersection in 2002, I woke up in my sleepy state, I asked him why he was turning left on Sunset when the way to my house was to keep going North on Red Road. He said it was quicker to go on the highway. I hesitated, but fell back asleep. The car crash was 10 minutes later on the Palmetto & Coral Way exit.
To put it into perspective, the Palmetto Highway is about 2 miles West of that intersection. He went out West to go back east just to avoid traffic lights and really didn’t make sense at that time because there was no traffic. He had a need for speed. And a week before, when he was driving my car, I had asked him to not play with my life. So in a way it was my fault that I let him drive again.
So the other night, I am at the traffic light wide awake and thinking how that one turn catapulted me to a completely different way of looking at life. So while it was a bad crash and “accident” that nearly killed me, it was a blessing in disguise because it woke me up like there was no tomorrow, literally. I didn’t walk for a year with many broken bones…but my spirit was ignited.
I snapped a picture as a symbol of how we are brought to crossroads for a purpose. Sometimes they are painful. In this case, he made a decision to turn left. I was asleep and gave him the keys to my life. But this time, I am in full control, in the drivers seat, wide awake and continuing in this journey of celebrating life and going in my own little pace. I hold the keys now, make my decisions…no need for speed here. I much rather take the time to go the way of the turtle.
