Home for Christmas!!

The things that happen when loved ones try to get home for Christmas. My son and his girlfriend have been away at school for over a year now. They always come home on breaks and spend time with their families. Last year my son drove one of the cars that I owned over to Pullman. At Christmas break they loaded the car up with presents and personal belongings and headed for home. On the way home they lost a rear tire and wheel and damaged the car. So my wife and daughter took to the road and went and brought them home. While they were home for Christmas my son's girlfriend got a loan so that she could buy a newer car that they could use to drive back and forth to school. We went looking and found her a newer Intrepid with low miles that she fell in love with.

This year they had to wait until late in the day yesterday to turn in their final papers for classes before they could head for home and family. My wife and I have been talking with our son for the last week and trying to talk him into waiting until Friday morning to come home. Well I could tell that he was not going to wait, the call of home and family was too great. I called him last night after I had talked to a truck driver that had just drove over from Idaho on the same route that they were going to take to get home. The information that I had received was that the Washington roads were in better shape because Washington road crews had been using salt on the roads to control the ice and snow. He told me that they had bought chains for the car and were getting on the road right then, which at that time was close to 5:00pm last night.

I waited till 8:22pm to send them a text message and ask how the roads were. I had a feeling that depending on the roads they should have been close to the tri-cities at that time. At 8:25pm my son called me and I could hear his girlfriend crying very loudly in the background. Before I could ask what was wrong he told me that they were in Kennewick, Washington. They were driving through a traffic light when someone ran the red light and crashed into the drivers side doors and wrecked their car. They were both shook up and both were complaining about back and neck problems. My son talked to me for a few minutes and then gave the phone to his girlfriend so he could talk to the Police officer. I spent close to 10 minutes talking to his girlfriend and calming her down, telling her we loved them and all that mattered was that they were alright. After she had calmed down some I let her talk to my wife for a while, she told them to make sure and go to the hospital and be checked out. And we would figure out a way to get them home. They did not get an ambulance ride to the hospital, they waited for a taxi cab to take them.

The other driver had no insurance, good thing they had full coverage on the car. Now what trials will they have to endure to get either the car fixed or get a new car to take them back to school in January.

At 3:51am this morning we got a text message saying that they had got a hotel room for the night and that they were safe. Hopefully sometime today we will be able to see them and give them hugs and LOVE. So what should have been a welcome home late last night will have to wait until later today or this evening.

This year her parents drove over to rescue them and hopefully find a way to get the car back to town. If the car gets back to town I will post some pictures of the carnage.

Update:

Well after getting everything done that the insurance company wanted, and putting a roof carrier on the car they are finally on their way home. When I talked to him just a few minutes ago he said they were at Boardman, Oregon and headed this way. Just a few more hours and they will be back home for a while. Hallelujah!!

Last Update:

Just heard a few minutes ago that they have finally made it into town at 9:00pm. My son got some pain pills at the hospital for his back pain last night and they are not working, so he is being dropped off at the hospital to see about getting something that will work and give him a pain free night. His girlfriend showed up here and we helped her unpack the car, she seems a lot better today. Now we just have to wait for our son to show up, soon I hope.