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The One Lesson I Learned from My 2020 Car Wreck
3. Have you ever been in a car accident?
“I have a story to tell you,” my mom said one day while we were sitting outside. “I had a car accident when I was 17. The front fender was smashed in on our car. I managed to pay the guy off at the scene, but I lied about the accident to my father.”
This hit close to home. By the time I was a kid, Grandpa was mild and reserved though still intimidating when he wanted to be. Even though he’s been in heaven for over 20 years, I’m still terrified of letting him down.
The other reason that this hit close to home was because I lied to my mom about my car wreck in 2020.
The truth: I was worried about an aggressive driver behind me. I thought the person in front of me was going to keep moving. I was really tired that morning and zoned out for a mere second or two. I realized I had crashed when I heard shattering glass and then saw the hood scrunched up.
What I told my mom: I was stopped at the light. I started to accelerate and slammed into the car in front of me.
I tried to hold to that story even when the collision center told Mom that judging by the damage done, there was no way that was the case. It wasn’t until she told me to stop bullshitting her that I came clean.
