Giving Many Thanks.

I'm doing Thanksgiving Kansas City style this year, celebrating with my bestie Sarah.  I drove down instead of flying, spending roughly 8 hours in the car.  I left super early in order to avoid incoming nasty weather, and the first half of my trip was utterly uneventful.  Weather was fine, roads were dry, and I literally lost count of all the windmills and cell phone towers in Northern Iowa.

Then, as if on some heavenly timer, the skies opened and it started raining the minute I arrived in Ames.  Normally not a big deal, but the temperature hovered at 32 degrees, and the risk of the rain starting to freeze was very real.  So I slowed down, put my hands at 10-and-2 on the wheel, and took my time.  I sure didn't want to end up in the ditch.

After about 20 miles, I rolled in to the northern edge of Des Moines.  The roads were wet but not overly slippery, but I still took it slow.  I saw some commotion at the bottom of a hill - mile marker 95 - and wondered what was going on.  There were several cars pulled over to both sides of the road with their hazard lights blinking, people standing around in the median.  I slowed to crawling behind the gawkers and saw why: a big, battered silver pickup truck lay on its side in the center median.  Several people stood around the truck, some holding kids, their hair being violently whipped by the 30mph freezing wind.  One gentleman in an Iowa State jacket hustled around the median, picking up the bags and items of clothing which had been strewn every which way.  A woman's head popped up through the driver's side window - she was standing inside the cab - and she looked very shaken.  The people around her started helping her out of the truck.  Emergency vehicles had not yet arrived; I'm guessing I came along maybe two minutes after the rollover accident happened.  Apparently the roads were in worse shape than I thought they were.

The scene brought tears to my eyes.  This family's Thanksgiving holiday was ruined, their possessions lying in the rain in a highway median.  Their vehicle was totaled.  It appeared that everyone was OK, but having been in accidents myself, I suspected they would all make precautionary trips to the hospital to get checked out.  They would not get to their final destination to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday with family or friends, and that made me sad.

My tears weren't only those of sadness.  I was absolutely amazed by the quick response and compassion of strangers.  There were no fewer than a half dozen vehicles pulled over, and there was a literal crowd surrounding the ruined truck.  I'm sure that strangers held the kids and calmed them while the parents made sure everyone was out.  I imagine that the guy in the median was a stranger helping to collect the family's stuff.  It would be so easy to just keep driving after witnessing an accident - but the overwhelming majority of folks stop and do what they can to help.  That scene really underscored my belief that people are inherently good - and on this Thanksgiving, I needed that reinforcement.

I am thankful for the kindness and compassion of strangers.  I am thankful for my bestie Sarah and her hospitality this weekend.  I am so thankful for my family, who have been utterly instrumental in helping me through this trying year.  I am thankful for my friends - I don't see them nearly often enough, but they continue to love me for me, and I love them just as much.  I am blessed to be the mother of two beautiful and amazing children, who remind me that life really is exciting and new every single day.  Happy Thanksgiving to you all - thank you for enriching my life.