I’m not having the greatest start to the New Year. I’ve got a pounding headache and it’s not the fun kind you get from drinking too much. You know, the normal reason one should have a headache after ringing in the new year.
No, my bell was rung in the way of a car accident that left me and 5 other passengers rattled. We were on our way to my brother’s wedding. The bride, me, 3 other bridesmaids (one being my sister), and my Mom were all ready to send my brother’s new wife down the aisle.
January 4, 2020 went something like this...
We were hit after making a U-Turn. We missed our original turn. And that lead to these next events.
I remember a horn. Mom was completing the U-Turn and sliding into the lane to our left.
My airbag was blue. A voice rang through the smoky air. OnStar had activated. I sat for a moment in shock. I was dizzy, but I turned back to my sister. “Eriel, are you okay?”
She smiled a nervous smile, shaking she nodded. She said something along the lines of “Yeah, what happened?” She was alright. The girl beside her, Sam, I asked her next...
I got out of my seatbelt at some point during this and leaned forward. Kayla was screaming and crying. Mom was yelling, “GET ME OUT!”
On star asked what happened.
I remember raising my voice. But this entire time, a calm was present in me. I couldn’t panic. I was high on adrenaline. I said, “We were in an accident. Airbags are deployed. We need help. I don’t know where we are.”
From there it was a whirlwind. I remember- My sister standing in the median crying. Bridesmaids scattered across the street. Twisted metal that wouldn’t budge as I tried yanking on my mother’s door. Stupid flats, stupid dress, all of it... hours to prepare and it’s completely USELESS! A police officer arriving- me telling him Mom was pinned in.
I’m around the car in the back seat again. Mom is screaming.
I go under deployed airbags to get in the back. She asks where Eriel is. “Is my baby safe?!!” She asks where I am, though I am talking to her, right beside her. She screams “I’ve ruined the wedding!”
The Officer in the front seat speaks kindly. He’s a man with a mustache, sunglasses, and a bright gold badge. “No you haven’t. We are going to get you all checked out, and you’re going to have a story to tell when this is all over.”
I move for the firefighter. They have to cut her out.
I got back to the median to stand with my sister.
K came round the car. A bride in the middle of the street, two mangled cars, metal and glass. “Mom’s not responding!”
K panics, hysterical, makeup running. Another bridesmaid grabs her.
E heard. She bursts into tears. More wailing, a sound I’ve never heard escapes my little sister. Through big tears she asks me, “Why is this happening. Why now?”
Calm. I have to stay calm. “God is here.” I hug her. “He never lets things happen that he doesn’t want to have happen.”
Police asking me for my information. Asking about my sister. I tell them, she’s autistic. She’s my sister, I want them to leave her alone. They do.
I hug her close. I told her and Kayla’s sister to stay together, to watch out for each other.
I go back round to the passenger’s side. Afraid.
She’s talking again. I breath. I try comforting her.
They’re on phones. I’m back on the median. I hug my sister and watch.
I check with G, she’s pregnant, I tell her to get looked at. She does.
Minutes later, another car carries the bride away with the rest of the bridesmaids. I stay.
Mom is loaded into an ambulance. She’s talking. She’s yelling- mad that someone hit us. I’m lost. A tow truck seems to materialize. It’s towing the Chevy onto its bed.
Everyone is disappearing, whisked away by other cars. On the side walk, my Grandpa, my Uncle, Cousin N, and JA stand.
I’m still. I might have waved.
I can’t panic. I have to stay calm. The wedding is happening. I can’t cry. My mascara will run. My sister will panic.
Next I’m walking with my sister and Dad across the street with the aid of a female officer.
I remember hugging my Uncle. That’s when I finally cry. But not for long, because we are off again.
From there I went to the hospital. Dad and I were the only ones in the waiting room and I remember little after that. Grandparents arrived. Back and forth from the waiting room to Mom’s side.
Not long after, Mom received a ticket. She was alright. Denying treatment except for a scan of her shoulder. Nothing broken.
The rental car was totaled, and towed away, never to be seen again.
I went through a wedding. I’m sad to say I did not enjoy it.
But I keep trying to remember. WE MADE IT. We walked away alive. And now I sit in a cafe in Orlando. I’m the last of my family to leave this ridiculous city because of a concussion. I was supposed to be the first one to leave so I could return to work.
I want to go home. I want my dog. I have a black eye, and it’s not even a cool one. It’s like a small bruise on my lower eyelid.
I’m tired. And I haven’t even begun to recount the night’s entire events.
- The Bride’s Mom was High (I think, I don’t have proof)
- Bride’s Mom set off a fire alarm in our hotel because she vaped in our bathroom. (I did have proof)
- And the list goes on....
-Something else happened a day or two before the wedding. I can’t remember what it was exactly, but then again I couldn’t remember the principal’s name this afternoon either. But I said it was a bad omen. But my grandpa F replied, “No, it’s just and omen.” It made me feel better then. But now I wonder.
I am going to try and move forward from this. But something tells me it’s going to be a couple weeks.
There are good things that have happened. But it’s hard to recall them all now. Concussion can cause depression. And I think I’m in the thick of it.
That’s why I’m ending this one with a prayer.
“God thank you for the events that transpired as they did. I don’t think it could have gone better. If it had to happen, I’m glad it happened under Your Watch.
Bless my family and my brother and his new wife.
God grant my family protection this New Year. And help me to always remember these events in a positive light, help me remember. WE all lived. We all walked away.
