Life can change so dramatically, in ways you never even expected. This is what makes this journey we travel so amazing. The radical way that nothing is ever a given, nothing is ever truly certain. It's the essence of what we crave...the most horrific times are often only a corner's turn away from the most joyous.

A terrible thing happened to my coworker today on his way into work. He was driving in during an absolutely torrential rainstorm and witnessed a very tragic accident. A man was walking in a crosswalk and was hit by a semi-trailer. Not just clipped, but run right over. Brian was right behind the semi, which did not stop, and witnessed the man go under the tires. The man was severely injured, with compound fractures of his pelvis and thigh bones. There were internal injuries...well, for the sake of not being too graphic, the internals were now external.

Still, the man tried to crawl to the curbs edge. In this state, his base instinct of survival still drove him. He knew he was in danger and he fought to save himself.

Brian turned his car in such a way to shield the man from oncoming traffic, and jumped out to go to his aid. He tried to phone 9-1-1 but kept misdialing he was shaking so badly. I should note that Brian is a partial quadraplegic. He's in a wheelchair but can walk a few steps. He knows injury, he's been there...

He held the man's hand and tried to soothe him while the paramedics arrived. The man began fading and Brian coaxed him to stay strong. He talked him through his screams. He laid in the wet street with the man, getting all soaked and just doing what he could. Another car also stopped and helped direct traffic.

When Brian arrived at work this morning, he was understandably a wreck. He was emotional, disjointed and so shaken. He kept saying over and over that the truck never even slowed down! In the aftermath, he didn't get any case number or information from the police but he says he doesn't want to know what the outcome was. I know he felt the man hadn't survived. Maybe he didn't. It wasn't on the news tonight though, so I can only hope that's a good sign. We sent Brian home....he was in no condition to work, and I can't even begin to imagine what trauma he's reliving in his head.

It got us all talking though. The girls in the office felt very strongly had it been them, they would need to know how the man was. For good or bad, to lend closure to the incident. The guys balked. Said that what was done was done, and knowing the outcome wouldn't change that. Interesting that opinion was so drawn on gender lines. What about you? Would you want to know?

I've been very introspective all day (well, really the past few days). Life is just so precious. I say it often, but it drove home today. Take Brian's life for example. He was in line to play for the NHL when a drunk driver hit him and put him in a chair. Everything he knew changed in a split second. There are so many stories and instances where things changed irrevocably on a dime. While we always carry that thought, there's still that -It won't ever happen to me- feel.
Maybe that's a survival instinct in itself. If we worry constantly that life could change, we'd never leave our houses. Somewhere in between, the key is learning to roll with the punches. Easy to say, not easy to do.

In lighter topics, what is it with this new BlogClicker? It's like crack! I just can't stop!!! I signed up at the BlogExplosion the other day just for kicks, and now I just can't slow down the surfin'. But I guess there's always worse things.