I saw a man die on the freeway today. There were cars going in every direction in front of me and I was able to stop with others. Thank God, I thought I was going to be rear ended or hit the person in front of me. Then we were all stopped. I couldn't see what was going on, but I could see people getting out of their cars. There were cars colliding on both sides of the freeway. We were stopped for about three or four minutes, and some of the people in front of me were driving down into a ditch to get out of the traffic. A cop came up alongside us and started waving people around. There were seven or eight cars piled up and as I drove past, in the lane next to me was a man laying there, maybe in his mid 20's with no shoes and one sock on. His body was twisted and his legs were mangled, but his chest was down, his head was turned toward my lane. His eyes were closed, that I could tell, and he had a gash on his forehead. It was over 100 degrees today, so the highway had to be so hot. There was a pick-up truck about 20 feet ahead with its door open. People were just standing next to him leaning over and crying. The cop just kept waving frantically for people to keep moving. I can't tell if he was ejected from one of the cars or hit by a car. The fact that there were car accidents on both sides make me think he was running across the freeway. I can't get his face out of my mind, or the fact that he had just one sock on. Where are his shoes? I feel so bad for this guys family. He died in a very traumatic and public way, but seemingly all alone. No one was touching him, they were just standing there. I have been searching the news on the internet to see if they say anything about him.

About seven years ago M and I witnessed a fatal accident on a dark two lane road. M didn't want to get out of the car. He knew it was bad so he called 911. I was really calm, I grabbed my first aid kit, a flashlight and gloves . At the time, for work I had to keep all of that in my car. Two minivans hit head on and both men died. One man was literally, hanging out of the window at the chest. He was clearly dead, the other man was wedged below the dashboard. I tried to check for a pulse, but the bones of him arm were sticking out of the skin. He was drooling and his eyes were partially open. I tried to feel for a pulse on his neck but there was none. When the ambulance arrived they just threw a sheet over him. We couldn't get to the other man. And he didn't respond when we were calling to him. I read in the paper the next day about how they both died. It is still fresh in my memory. Both in a minivan, driving opposite directions, and neither wearing a seat belt; what are the chances?

I am so thankful to be sitting next to M at my sister’s house. We are safe and I have a renewed appreciation of life and how quickly things change.