Thirty minutes from Adaland Mansion, we got a text message from our daughter. She had left a few minutes before us, driving separately because she was headed back to North Carolina following our meal. There had been a horrible car wreck and the road was blocked. My first thought was where are my boys? I sent a text message back to her: do you see your brothers?

Common sense, which I have a lot of, told me that Paul, with Neil and Maggie, couldn’t have been involved in the wreck. Emergency services, along with at least two Life Flight helicopters, had already arrived and I knew my kids wouldn’t have been on that stretch of the road so early. Still, I sent a message: are you guys okay? Cell service in the area was spotty and the message did not go through.

I knew of an alternate route to Adaland, so with my daughter following, we turned around and proceeded to Simpson Road, which would take us to the mansion from the opposite direction. While giving my husband directions, I tried texting my youngest son, a passenger in his brother’s car, again. There is a wreck and the road is blocked. Turn onto Simpson Road to Flemington, then turn left onto route 76. The message did send but when I got no response I started to get nervous. Was the poor cell service to blame or…. ? My anxiety, which I often struggle with, was building. I tried not to let my imagination put me into panic mode.

When we finally arrived at Adaland, a text arrived from the boys, letting me know they were fine and just a few minutes away. The sense of relief I felt was overwhelming but I immediately felt guilty because I was basically glad it was somebody else’s family involved and not mine. When we sat down to eat, my family circling the table together, my emotions were scrambled. I was so thankful for my children’s safety, for their laughter, and for their presence in my life that I got teary eyed. I sat their taking in their conversation and the news of their lives and simply thanked God for all that was mine because of His blessings.

Later that night, I saw on the news that five people had been injured in the head-on collision that blocked the road that afternoon. I thought about how their lives had been changed in that moment of impact, about the trauma of recovering physically, and financially, from such a horrendous accident. My prayers for their recovery are sincere and I will continue to ask God to keep my own family safely in the palms of His hands. I don’t think this is even a bit beyond normal. It’s just what a mother should do.