At the heart of the matter, it’s not so much the season itself which I loathe. It’s really more so about the cold and especially, the ice. I have good right to as well! I have been in three accidents involving black ice.

BI Parts 1 and 2, “Built Strong”…Thanksgiving Night, 2003. Driving back from Oak brook, Illinois (Ashish’s). I hit black ice on Roosevelt Road while changing lanes. I was in my candy apple red, 64 1/2 fastback. Thank goodness I was surrounded by steel as those cars don’t have seat belts [My father later installed a lap belt, with the odd disclaimer that it may be better for me to be thrown from the car than have it explode as the gas tank is in the rear- “thanks, Dad!”]. I recall pumping [manual steering and breaks], fish tailing and then loosing it as I tried to keep track of where I was with the positioning of the light post in view. If I had 5 more feet, I would have straightened it out and been fine. I didn’t have that 5 feet I so needed. I ended in a ditch. I literally crawled out of the car. The battery was knocked out, so I didn’t even have headlights. I was now a sitting duck. A couple with an infant stopped and asked me if I was okay. They took me to a hotel off the road so I could call my father. I never did get their names. I think of them as angels though. My father was judging ChevyVette Fest at the time, in downtown Chicago. He said he was “on his way.” I also called, my then, boyfriend, Ashish. I was a bit fuzzy with directions. I now understand, I was in shock. By the time my father was on the scene, an ambulance, fire truck and police were all surrounding the scene. I recall being in the back of the ambulance and being asked my birth date, who was president, etc. I refused any treatment as I was going to college, paying my way and I had no health insurance. My father showed up just as the tow truck arrived. He spoke to him about towing the mustang directly home. All of the emergency vehicles left the scene. I was sitting in my father’s pick-up truck on the shoulder of the road when I looked at my father and the tow truck guy yell, in-sync, “Nooooo!” I turned my head to see a Jeep Cherokee sliding directly toward my father’s truck. I could see the look of helplessness and fear on the drivers face. I remember just trying to relax my muscles. The side of my head hit the passenger window. Alas, I was back in the ditch. The exact same ditch, I was just in. Someone obviously wanted me in the ditch! My future mother-in-law was in town… I have my suspicions! haha. Better yet, “thank you” to my guardian angel who saved me that night- twice. Ashish did show up after ditch, part II. He drove me home…no more incidents to report on this night.

BI, Part 3: “Welcome to Minnesota!”…Again, Thanksgiving! We were returning from our trip back to visit everyone in the Chicagoland area for Thanksgiving. We lived in Rochester at the time. As soon as we crossed the Mississippi, just past Lacrosse (where Ashish proposed to me), cruising along at 70MPH on I-90, we hit black ice. Folks, let me tell you from experience, that whole “three times a charm” thing is way overrated. I remember sliding across lanes of traffic, headed toward yet another ditch and just grabbing a hold of Ashish’s hand and telling him, “I love you.” I just think of that moment and I feel the intense love and passion that I hold with my every breath for Ashish. [Mental note to self; Remind Ashish of this endearing love and affection by displaying it more often.] I actually couldn’t get out of my door because it slammed into a post of sorts [perhaps a mile-marker]. Ironically, there was a squad car down the way a bit with his lights on. He came back to us quickly and gave us the advice of, “If your car drives, it’s best to get back on the road and out of this spot.” He helped us take off some trim that was hanging on the car, and pushed us out of the ditch. I drove the rest of the way and was never so happy to see the Rochester exit!