Thanksgiving

Last Friday, Kalei and boyfriend Blane were making the 8 hour drive from Arcata south on windy Highway 101 to Santa Cruz for a Thanksgiving visit with Blane's family. In the midst of a serious rainstorm, Blane pulled over on the side of the road to let a tail-gaiting car pass by, lost traction on the muddy shoulder and skidded down an embankment. The car flipped over and landed in a streambed. Amazingly, no one was hurt-- they were wearing seatbelts, so the windshield cracked, but not their precious heads. Kalei reported the mice fell out of their cage but were rescued, and that “the check you sent survived”. Lots of folks stopped to help, including the tail-gater. No one’s cell phone worked, but two girls said they’d call for help when they got to their friend’s house. Car needs repairs, but it's just a car. Blane's dad, bless his heart, immediately drove from Santa Cruz to help with the car and after an overnight stay, drove them back to home for Thanksgiving. Shortly after talking to Kalei, I read the news that another HSU student, driving home for Thanksgiving on that same day and in that same storm got into a collision on Hwy 101 near Willits…and died. We're still absorbing the mystery of how and why we came so near to, and yet were delivered from, life-changing disaster. As Kalei, trying to make light of the situation, said to us: “Well at least now you have something to be thankful for this Thanksgiving”. Yes, indeed!