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from my husband. He had tried to contact me a number of times after seeing the breaking news on T.V about the 35W bridge collapse, but each time the call either wouldn't connect or he would be sent to my voicemail since I couldn't hear the phone over the blare of music playing on my stereo.

I hurried home to two crying children who knew I had been on that bridge, as I had been so many times before, and a husband that repeated to me over and over, "We thought we lost you."

I figured out that I was probably on the bridge at about 6:00, just minutes before it collapsed. I wonder about all of the people behind me on Washington Avenue waiting to head north on 35W. I wonder about the missing construction worker. Would I remember his or her face if I saw it? I imagine the horror of feeling that bridge crumble and collapse under my car. I also wonder about the families of the people that are still unaccounted for. Do I know any of them? Are there people still in the water that no one even realizes is gone? What would have happened if I had stopped to buy myself a treat at the coffee shop for the drive home? Would that have delayed me long enough to be involved in the bridge collapse? Would I be here today?

I imagine my experience is similar to that of someone who purchases a plane ticket but misses a flight that later ends in crash. I feel extremely fortunate, yet at the same time, guilty because I made it across when so many didn't.

Life changing experiences often happen with the unexpected those events that twist the every day experience into something with boundless meaning. The day the 35W bridge collapsed was that day for me and thousands of others. Life can change or end without warning and each moment should be savored and tended with the greatest of care.

Learn more about this author, Di Reiter.
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