Simple Things Sunday and Our Car Crash

Simply beautiful.

Photography is good for my soul. I love taking beautiful shots, and I love the nuanced work of editing.

I love that there's so much more to learn and that I can get better at this for years to come.

It helps me relax, and just like blogging, it's something I do just for me.

Yesterday, we were in a car accident.

We'd had an amazing, relaxing day of 3v3 soccer. Outside on a gorgeous, Central Florida, December day -- which is like a mid-summer day in lots of other places -- we laughed and cheered and celebrated with good friends. Hard fought games went into overtime, and in the end, both Julia's team and Katherine's team brought home first place.

Packing up Katherine with friends for the hour or so ride home, we stayed for Julia's sixth and final game of the day.

Late afternoon as the sun was going down, we pulled out of the fields, really tired and really happy, reliving the victories and talking about how really good burgers would hit the spot for dinner.

I was looking down as Mike got a green turn light and pulled into the intersection.

That's when we were hit.

An SUV, going fast, ran the red light and crashed into us, spinning our van 360 degrees. When we stopped spinning, we saw the SUV driver slow down and look back for a moment, before driving away.  We were left stunned and confused and pretty upset. Our back bumper and other pieces of our van littered the intersection.

Here's what we didn't know at the time.

Julia's teammate, Ainsley, and her dad, Ron, were driving behind us when we were hit and saw the whole thing. When the SUV driver didn't stop, Ron and Ainsley followed him. As Ron drove, Ainsley took photos of the SUV with her phone. Ainsley dialed 911 so her dad could report the accident. Unfortunately for the hit and run driver, the road he was driving on dead ended. Ron spoke with the man, encouraging him to return to the scene of the crash.

All of us initially thought the other driver was intoxicated, but the police told us later that  he was a man who'd had several brain surgeries, and that while he was confused, it wasn't an issue of substance abuse.

Ron and Ainsley were the heroes of the night, giving a statement to the police, playing soccer with the kids on the side of the road, and eventually taking them all to get something to eat.

It was a long night of police officers. . . and a tow truck. . . and an ambulance. . .and of course, the fire truck. Piling the contents of our van on the side of the road -- soccer chairs and a tent and a foldable bench and a cooler and soccer goals and a bag of balls and a sleeping bag and a pillow and a few blankets and backpacks and all the CDs and phone chargers and jumper cables and various tools that live in our van -- we waited for a rental car that never showed up. Finally, the five of us and our. . ummm. . . belongings, joined Ron and Ainsley in his five seater car, as he gave us a lift back to our house.

No one was seriously hurt. We got home safely. And Katherine, delighted to get a surprise sleepover with her friend, still doesn't know what happened.

Missing my van and hoping to have a driveable car - soon!