Mamacita says: On this day four years ago, I was in the intensive care ward. A woman had run two stop signs and collided with me as a colleague and I were on our way to a faculty meeting at the college. I will never fully recover from that wreck.

I can close my eyes and see her coming at us.

I never heard a single word from this woman, not an apology, not a hope that I would recover, nothing. Silence. Her insurance company fought us every step of the way. Until we hired a lawyer, the insurance company called me several times every day, starting with the day I got home from the hospital, chewing me out for thinking I should get any kind of settlement from them or this woman. (“You are too badly injured for our budget.”) (“What kind of person are you to ask for money from this woman?”) Only the news that a lawyer had been hired stopped the calls.

Four years later, the business part of this ordeal is finally over. (Eternal thanks to my awesome lawyer.) The healing part, both physical and emotional, is still ongoing. Every time I see a cutesy commercial for her insurance company, I want to throw something at the screen. They were absolutely horrible. As for the woman who tried her best to kill us. . . . I’m glad you weren’t hurt.

On a related note: we didn’t make it to the meeting, but fortunately we weren’t elected to anything or put in charge of something as absent teachers so often are. My beloved little red car was totaled, as was any hope of an active life for me. Oh, I can get around, but it’s not a pretty sight.

I am still working on the forgiveness part of this saga.

48Kimmie Deckard Knapp, Thomas Underwood and 46 others26 Comments