I did not share details yesterday because I was physically
and mentally drained. I was super shaken up and helping the kids get better. Additionally,
when you are faced with such a vulnerable situation it makes you reevaluate
things. I evaluated things like, who on my social media page genuinely cares
about mine and my family’s wellbeing. You
may have six hundred friends on there and twenty people comment on something
life altering. Who will care, who will just want to know to be nosey, who will
care just to judge, who will read it and just say neat story, who will read it
and comment insensitively when you just experienced the scariest moment of your
life (and I have experienced some scary things, if you know my history you know)!
Collectively as a family we were in prayer and recovery mode after being in
survival mode for a hours.
Yesterday was a normal day. Breakfast, poking around the
house, lunch, playing, etc. Zoe does horseback riding/caring for horses not too
far from us (about 15 minutes more than the distance to my husband’s job but
the other way). It is at the bottom of a mountain that is very pretty. We
wanted to go walk around the mountain because all we can do for recreational therapy
is go for walks. We are supposed to be socially distant, nothing is open
(grocery stores, gas stations, hospitals…), so endless walking is where it’s at
for us. We have walked around this base more times than we can count. We have
walked one way out the front gate, and the other way out that same gate. We
have walked out the walking gate at the back of the base…. point being, loads
of walking around here! We wanted to walk and see a little different background.
It has been snowing on and off for at least a week here.
That added to the excitement to see the snow at such a pretty angle. We all
bundled up in our snow gear head to toe. Snow bibs, boots, snow gloves, hats,
scarfs, hats, ear warmers, thick jackets and I even brought a few extras in
case someone got too wet in those clothes and wanted to change. I mention this because
having all of that was one of the things that saved us yesterday. We left
shortly after lunch time. The drive was a normal drive like any other day. The
drive up the mountain was a few miles long because you had to loop around the
mountain. The roads were clear, and nobody was really up there (maybe 5 cars). There
were a few parking lots along the way up the mountain for sledding, bird
watching and that sort of thing. We kept looping around because we wanted to
see the top. There was a road that went all the way up. The views were beautiful,
and we stopped several times to snap a few pictures of the picturesque surroundings.
All seemed normal and fine.
We were coming to a narrower part of the road but nothing I haven’t
driven on before. I used to drive along the cliffs of northern California where
it snows. I spent four years in northern Japan driving in snow up to my knees.
I have road tripped several times across the northern part of the United States
in snow. I don’t take snow lightly as I do know it causes hazardous road conditions
at times. I know to be cautious around it. There were snow sections on the road,
but we were good because of that level of caution. Another vehicle just drove through
this section of road and I didn’t even hesitate because the road continued on. Suddenly,
our rear tires became angled on a tuff of icy packed snow and began to slide to
the edge of the mountain! It happened instantly! I hit the brakes, but it wasn’t enough because
the weight of the pull towards the edge of the mountain was too much. I quickly
threw on the emergency brake and that alone stopped us from sliding off the mountain!
Sitting in the driver’s seat, the one in control of the vehicle, with my arms
on that steering wheel, I felt completely helpless. I physically felt the pull and
zero control as the weight of the vehicle flooded my hands. The main brakes
were not locked, but simply not enough for the angle my back tire was on. I
gasped so loudly, almost a screech! I am a confident driver; I am not an overly
confident driver. I have never been in an accident. I pride myself on my offensive,
and defensive driving. I am alert and drive like I have four precious jewels in
my vehicle. I have never felt so helpless. I felt like nothing I could have
physically done would save us (well throwing on the e brake did in that moment).
David and I stared at each other in fear for a millisecond
then I said what do we do?! I careful got out of the van to assess the damage.
I said okay, going forward wasn’t an option because my back tire won’t let me or
we would have already went forward. Additionally, going forward was sort of down
sloped and I didn’t’ want to cause further issues. I thought okay if I get my
front wheels turned away from rolling off the mountain and go slow enough I can
back out of this spot. The road was too narrow for turning around. I said a
prayer, had one foot on the regular brake and slowly took my foot off the
emergency brake! NO!! The weight of the slope and how my back-passenger tire
was sitting on that slick snow/ice it immediately began to slide down again! We then had even less room away from falling! I
threw on the ebrake again but with the move of the front tire was able to angle
us a tad closer to the mountain but not out of ultimate danger. The vehicle
wasn’t stable as it was shifting with our movements. How do you get four kids
to understand ultimate danger and not move?!?! If you know let me know! I said
calmly but firmly out loud, “Okay we all have to get out and stay to the driver’s
side of the vehicle everyone. Do not be afraid just walk careful and quickly.
Stay together and stay close to the mountain. Stay away from the passenger side
of the van (that was the side closest to the edge of the unprotected ledge). Deacon
was asleep and in the far back. Silas was in his car seat closest to the mountain.
Zoe was terrified because she sits on the passenger side and is old enough to
understand our lives were in danger even with us attempting to keep outwardly
calm for them. She was so brave though and stood there holding Deacon’s hand
while we got Silas out. I stayed in the driver’s seat holding the actual brake
down because I figured the e brake and the main brake were both helping keep it
there as the shuffling of the vehicle ensued. I did not want to let off from that
until all the children were alongside the mountain and out of the vehicle.
David was so gentle but quick in getting them all unbuckled. I am so grateful
all the kids kept their snow gear on as sometimes we take it off for the drive
and put it on when we get to where we are going. Since the drive was going to
be short we just we loaded up and ready to go. In between the front seats were
the additional warm clothes. After the children were to safety I slowly let off
the second brake and got out of the van with one fell swoop holding the warm
items from in between the seats.
In that moment I could have cried but I knew we needed to
find shelter. The snow was turning into rain more than snow, the wind began to
pick up. I knew the help/tow truck could be awhile as those things take time
sometimes. I instantly felt vulnerable being in a foreign country. Knowing I couldn’t
just ask anyone for help in the way I would need to because of the language
barrier. Knowing the loop around the mountain was a few miles and we could be
exposed to those elements for at least an hour. Knowing everything in the town
below would be closed except the inside of the grocery store. I felt completely
helpless. I called the tow truck and said what happened! He came so fast for
how far he was away from us. He was there in under forty minutes. Thank goodness
for technology as we were able to share our live location and he his. I called the
second we were safely out of the van. After I hung up we began walking down the
steep mountain. I told the kids we had to find shelter because it could be a
while and walking down that distance with littles could take an hour or more. My
phone was somewhat glitching so I didn’t think I could call too many numbers
without it dying on me. It actually shut off once just from getting cold.
The mountain didn’t have houses and such because it was just
nature. We came up on a graffitied looking hut that had somewhat of an overhang,
and we all got in that area and hunkered in to stay warm and dry. The wind grew
increasingly intense. The time elapsed to where it was growing colder, and we
were losing day light. Once the tow truck arrived David went up with him to where
out van was. We didn’t get in the truck as the spot of the hill where I van was
stuck wouldn’t have been safe. The kids
and I were in a warmer spot than the alternative but were all getting colder. Seth
was cold and hungry (the hunger part is nothing new.) Zoe was concerned on her
face but wasn’t saying much. She and I just wanted to keep praying. We were now
praying for the guys safety and for them to be quick. I was assessing what to
do next already because I didn’t want us to get hypothermia if it was going to
be too long. I knew nothing was down for a few miles and I was watching my cell
phone battery slowly drain away. I remained faithful. I sang a few songs, prayed
out loud. I was reminding the kids that we were provided for and we would make
it out of this predicament. I kept it all together for them. A few cars passed
and saw us but no one stopped. I don’t know what I would have said or not said
to them if they did stop. It would have depended on how much English they knew
because I know extremely basic German. I was fine though because I was hopeful
the guys would be back with the van sooner than later.
I was moments away from making a big decision for the next
step because we were going on an hour and a half in the makeshift shelter. Deacon
was asking repeatedly “can we go home. I am getting cold!” He was starting to
cry! Silas was start to shake even though I had the most clothing on him! He
was crying for a mixture of reasons. He wanted down to roam but the road was
there, he was done with his snacks, and he was cold. A moment later a German
lady who happened to be driving by with two of her kids and her kid’s friends
saw us. I didn’t know she noticed us. Her kids were going to sled for a moment
but no longer because it was too cold to do it for more than a few minutes. She
walked by with her dog. She said “Hallo”, so I said “Hallo” back. I desperately
asked her with a lump in my throat, “sprehen sie englisch? (do you speak English)”!
She replied, “yes I do speak English”! I almost started to ball my eyes out elated
at this! She asked if we needed help. I said well my husband and a tow driver our
getting our van from the ledge of the mountain. We stopped here because it was
the nearest covering. She said “well do you want to get in my van to wait and
be warm??” I said, “absolutely yes please!” She had all the middle seats of a
large van down because they have a large dog that rides there. It was perfect.
Her name was Christiana, and she had a daughter the same age
as Zoe named Maria. She had a son named Robert. Their friends were Yohana and
her brother named Johannes. They were incredibly curious of us and Maria was practicing
her English with us! The boys gave Silas and Deacon their snack packs but the
warmth was everything! It was a saving
grace as we waited on the guys. Not a moment sooner we see the tow truck coming
around the corner down the hill and I thought oh my thank you LORD! It was dusky
and getting dark so I didn’t see the back of it. They came closer and the back
was empty!!!!! I thought oh no! They were up there so long and the back is empty!
All sorts of thoughts flooded my mind in that moment! Did the van fall over, etc.?!?!
The tow trucker left so quickly when I called and it took so long to try to get
the van that he was running out of gas in his truck! So he had to go down the
hill to get gas and come back up! I was going to see about them taking us down
with them to a sheltered area because I didn’t want to keep Christiana any
longer. She said no I will wait for you! Additionally, with the imposed curfew
she said if it takes too long the stores will close (we have an 8pm curfew here….
mind you this all a happened shortly after lunch time and it was now dusk). I wanted
to kiss her face when she said she wanted to wait with us/for us!
The guys made it back with gas and back up to the spot. Christiana
called her husband Claus (like Santa Claus). She was going to have him take
their children and ultimately take us home because it was getting late (three
hours at this point)! I told her I was so sorry for all of this and that I was insanely
grateful for all she was doing for us, perfect strangers. She said well I don’t
imagine this was your plan for the day, cars get stranded, and I am sure you
would do the same for someone in this situation (little does she know that is
100% accurate). Her husband came and left with the children after a brief
conversation of well wishes for us and myself expressing gratitude. She then
took us to the parking lot close to where the guys were as we were going to
assess how much longer it would be. She gave me the flashlight on her phone and
I began walking down the area of the hill our van was stranded. The gleaming
lights of the large tow truck started to appear! They seemed to be growing
brighter and I thought, are they moving towards me! They were! They were free
and I saw the van! So I moved back to the car and they came out van and guys in
tow!!! I could have fallen to my face in gratitude at that moment! David later
told me getting the tow truck backed into a spot to get the van was tricky. The
tow line wasn’t quite long enough to safely grab the vehicle and it couldn’t be
backed up in an appropriate angle to retrieve the van. The driver had to add additional
line to his pully to get the van! The tow trucker told me he was worried about
his truck for a minute because it was wobbling, and the ice was slick for his
big tires. He said my van was not sturdy being pulled away from the edge but he
made it work!
We loaded the kids in our van. We thanked everyone profusely!
Christiana and I exchanged phone numbers because we and especially the girls
would like to get together again. We
spoke of payment/insurance things with the tow trucker and expressed our gratitude
with him! We told them both that they literally saved us that day! What they
did for us was beyond comprehension! The true epitome of selfless acts! Even
the tow trucker! That could have been out of his scope or not wanted to for the
risk to himself or his truck! It was now 7 PM!!!!!! 7!!!!!! The hill that was
clear was now slick! I begged of them to please all make their way down
carefully! We did the same! The kids wanted to McDonald’s on the way home because
everyone was hungry and cold. We went threw the drive thru and made it home
safely!
Once home we put everyone in warm baths. Zoe journaled for
over an hour trying to cope with what happened. Seth said “mom when we started
to slide down and you gasped I got really scared!” I reassured him that was
valid. I said it was a scary situation so that in understandable! I reminded
him that God kept us safe and we were now okay! Deacon said I was cold and we
have to be careful! I said yes we do! The adrenaline was still high in my body,
so I was just in take care of kids mode. I had increasing guilt of the what
ifs! What if I did this? What if I did that? I was in shock and PTSD! David was
alongside with me in a lot of that. Of course, men typically handle things differently
and I was the driver so I was taking the brunt of it. I was self-doubting. My
ears could still hear the cries of the children! My arms could still feel the
vibration of Silas shaking! My hands could feel the pull of the van as it
seeped to the edge of the mountain! My mind couldn’t stop replaying the
helplessness! As my adrenaline subsided and we got the kids situated, these
things grew. I also became aware of my cold legs and feet. It was an awfully
hard day and night! Two things remained! My faith and abundance of grace and
provisions there and my husband! David remained calm and brave the entire time.
He constantly helped the children and I the whole way. When I was having a hard
time mentally he pulled me out of that the best he could.
Yesterday was notably one of the scariest days of my life. I
could have lost my entire family in an instant! Serious bodily harm could have
happened in an instant! God provided for our safety! The tow truck driver provided
for our safety! Christiana provided for our safety! The Lord allowing me to
have quick thinking and reactions to the emergency brake provided for our safety!
The shelter placed where it was provided for our safety! Everyone was where
they needed to be at the right times yesterday! I am indebted! A very warm
shower, loads of prayers, the right mind set, and a night of rest have started
my road to healing. I will need to mentally recover from this for some time. Notably
we will not be forgetting this day. Prayers are always appreciated at this
time.
