by Marilyn Bubb

Created on: November 29, 2010   Last Updated: January 26, 2011

Lessons Learned     
     I sat in the car and watched Beth walk into the local market.  She was carefree, her strides easy and long.  Her chestnut hair bounced on her shoulders; she was dressed for summer, in a light, airy skirt and blouse, with sandals on her feet and a smile on her face.
     No smile shone on my face. I was waiting for my husband to leave the store. I was tired, grumpy, and sweaty. I had taken my sister to some appointments that day, spending hours languishing on the sticky plastic seats of waiting rooms, trying to ignore fussy children and pushy adults having noisy conversations about things I felt were inconsequential at best, and appallingly stupid at worst.  

     I didn’t stick my head out the window and greet Beth. Didn’t wave a friendly hand and smile.  Didn’t even send a happy thought her way.
     Beth belonged to our homeschool group. Just a few years older than my son, she lit up the room when she walked in. Her smile was infectious, her laugh contagious. She’d grown from a pig-tailed tomboy to a lovely young lady, right before our eyes. As far as I could see, Beth didn’t have any enemies; her kind heart and sweetness were appreciated by all.
      And here I sat in the car. Not enjoying the summer warmth, but enduring it. Not reveling in the moment, but wishing it would pass so I could move on to the next thing.
     Not long after Beth entered the store, my husband exited. We went home, and I prepared supper and encouraged my son to finish the last of his schoolwork.   After washing the dishes, it was time for me to shower and relax. My horrible day was over.
     The next day, Beth’s mother called me on the phone. Beth had been in an accident. Every day, she drove into a town about 30 miles away to work at Subway. On her way, she always passed her daddy, who was coming home from working the night shift at his job. They looked forward to a smile and a wave from one another; a way to connect and start the day. That day when Beth’s daddy drove by, he saw Beth’s little red car nose-down in the creek; she’d driven off the road as she rounded a curve and hit a culvert, then smashed into the rocky creek bed.
     Emergency workers extracted Beth from her car; she was taken

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