I have to thank my guardian angel for keeping us safe and sound despite being in a wee car accident this Tuesday.

Normally on Lily's month-birthday, I post about how much she has changed since we brought her home. I note all the amazing and amusing things she has done. How tall she is, and her latest tricks. This week, I didn't post on her 8 month birthday, for a couple of reasons. The first was the accident. I'll get back to that later. The second is this:

Five years ago, on April 17, my grandpa passed away. This is always a hard day for me, because we were so close. He taught me so much - how to pick out nails at the hardware store when I was only 2 or 3, how to make stuff out of wood, how to identify birds by their calls, how to fix things, how to knit, how to fish (yes, I know I don't eat it, but I still remember how to bait a hook, catch, clean and fillet a fish.) and how important it is to do the things you love most. I miss his whisker rubs, his laugh, his sideways grin and the way he used to tease me. I know it's only in my mind's eye, but sometimes I can still see him trudging up the hill at the cabin. The last time I spoke to my grandpa was at Easter of that year. We visited, and when I said goodbye I told him I loved him. The last thing my grandpa said to me was "I love you too." I didn't know that it would be the last time we spoke, but I can still hear those words. I miss him every day, and always will.

I was thinking of him all morning, as I do on the anniversary of him passing away. Bryan called me from work, asking if I could pick him up at 10 instead of 11 as planned. He had an appointment for a specialist - a dentist, at noon. He had planned to work a half-day in the shop, then come home to change and go to the appointment. He wasn't feeling well, so he asked me to come early. I got there around 10:15, and we headed towards home. At the corner of 50th and 101st, we were stopped at the red light, waiting for the advance green on our left turn. I heard a crash, and then looked up to see a black BMW spinning towards us. From what I can piece together, the driver of the BMW was trying to get around a pickup truck that was pulling a 16 foot flatbed trailer, so he could make the light. The BMW clipped the truck or the truck clipped the BMW, which caused the BMW to spin, hit a pole, and the median before sliding sideways into us.

Before I go further - WE ARE ALL OK.

This is where my guardian angel stepped in. My airbags didn't go off. Lily didn't even feel the crash. I wasn't hurt. Bryan wasn't hurt. My car is only slightly damaged - pending insurance repair estimates of course. The driver of the BMW had a scraped hand and a bump on his head. The driver of the truck hit her head, but was OK. The paramedics checked everyone else on scene, and said we were all fine, and that they didn't need to take anyone in to the hospital.

They say that when you become a parent, nothing is more important than your child. This is one of those things I always knew, but didn't get until Tuesday. The only thing I cared about at the moment that everything happened, was that Lily was OK. Before Bryan could even ask me if I was all right, I asked him to make sure she was fine. It wasn't until he looked at her, and told me she was OK that I began to absorb what had just happened, and how lucky we were to go through this without any injuries. All I wanted to do was take her out of her car seat and hold her tight, but I couldn't until the paramedics got there. They checked her out, and said she was just fine. Then I gave her a huge hug.

Bryan will possibly scoff at this, but I have to say how impressed I am at how he handled everything. I know that as my husband and Lily's dad, it's his job to take care of us, and make sure we are safe. But to see that come to fruition in a moment where I froze and didn't know what the heck to do, makes me proud to say he's my husband and the father of our child. In the space of a few minutes, he made sure that Lily was fine, that I was fine, called 911 and got the police/ambulance/fire department en route, checked with the other drivers, got names and phone numbers of witnesses organized for the police. Then he came over and hugged me.

So thank you grandpa, for looking out for me, and keeping us safe on Tuesday. I love you.