I’m late, I’m late…

Well, I never thought my daughter Sandy would marry Tim. He was the wrong man for her. Sandy was thoughtful and loving while Tim was selfish and demanding.

Today is her engagement party. I should be happy for her but I know Tim is no good. How can she stand his sarcasm?

He tried that with me but boy was he surprised when I told him off. Tim was a bully and not used to being challenged – especially by women – but this city girl knew how to fight back.

“Sandy, you know I love you and I would never hurt you, but Tim is not what he appears to be. You’re going to get hurt.”

“Oh Mom, how can you say that? You really need to get to know Tim better. If you keep this up, I’m not going to talk with you.”

How unlike Sandy to ever threaten to cut me out of her life. Tim was already starting to have a negative influence.

Two days before the party I overheard Tim talking to his mother on his cell phone. “Of course we’ll come over tonight. Sandy will do what I tell her to do so don’t worry.”

How I hated him. Sandy didn’t know what she was in for.

Can’t be late to the party. Sandy would think I did it on purpose. No matter what I thought of Tim, I could never hurt my only child.

Filled the car with gas yesterday, wrapped all the gifts, finished all the arrangements for the party last week – I really was ahead of the game. Party’s at 7 PM, 45 minutes away, so I’ll leave at 4:15 PM which will get me there two hours early. God, I really am paranoid about not being late.

Two miles for the exit and traffic was running smoothly. As I changed lanes to the right, I noticed the white van in front of me. Looked like a mother driving with two kids in the back. They should have been in a seat belt but they were in the back seat looking out the back window. At first I thought they were smiling and waving, but as I got closer, I saw they were crying.

The van swerved onto the service road and down the embankment. I pulled over as quickly as I could and so did several other cars. As we ran down the embankment to see if they were hurt, black smoke was billowing from under the hood.

The kids were screaming now. We heard police sirens and a fire truck coming from the rear. I looked in the front seat and saw a woman slumped over the steering wheel.

The kids were screaming, “Grandma, Grandma.”

I tried to open the door but the hot metal burned my hand and the smoke stung my nostrils. Two strong hands pulled me away and the firemen proceeded to open the doors and bring the kids out.

There was a lot of movement and noise and I just stood there feeling helpless. The kids were all right but their grandmother had a heart attack and was being wheeled into the ambulance on a stretcher.

I tried to call Sandy but as soon as she picked up and I said, “Sorry honey, I’m going to be late, there was an…,” my cell phone died. The one thing I forgot to do last night – charge my cell phone.

The police made way for the ambulances and the fire trucks to leave the scene but I knew the road would be closed for hours while they investigated the accident.

As I sat in my car and put some music on, I wondered what Sandy would think. I hoped she realized I loved her too much to ruin her day.

Finally traffic started to move and I got to the party about an hour late. As I walked into the restaurant, I noticed only my family and friends were there.

“Sandy, I’m so sorry. There was a terrible accident and I was stuck just before the exit for hours.”

Sandy put her arms around me and gave me a big bear hug. “Mom, I’m just glad your okay. Terry told me about the accident when she arrived. She was exiting right when it happened and she saw your car behind the van.”

“Where’s Tim and his family?”

“I threw them out.”

“Why?”

“Because he and his lowlife family didn’t even care that you might be hurt. He told me I was being selfish worrying about you and I was ruining the party for him. He really showed me his true colors.”

How great to be late!