This morning I dropped my wife off at her job and then drove to the local home store to order a new screen door. Then it was off to work.

A rainy Tuesday and morning traffic made things a bit sluggish. The car in front of me stopped quickly and I slowed down and stopped as well.

Then about five seconds later it happened. SMASH! A car behind me smacked into the back of my 2010 Nissan Sentra while I was at a dead stop.

Everyone was fine. No injuries. Just two cars banged up, hers much worse than mine. My back fender is dangling but it looks like plastic pieces that have broken off. It could have been much worse. I drove the car to work and had a backed up morning–but am otherwise fine.

Surprisingly, I was calm. I easily got out of the car and made sure the other driver and her kid was OK. I was met with apologies, admission of guilt and some tears. Having not been in an accident before, I had to think.

“I guess we call the police and exchange insurance information now, right?” I said to her.

“Yep. Sounds good.”

And so we did. Two newcomers to Buffalo, providing simple information.

The cops came and got us off the road and ran some reports. All was well again and I was told to drive off by the police while they called a tow truck from AAA for her.

I drove the rest of the way to work. As I pulled into the driveway I felt gratitude, things could have been much worse. Once you’ve been in an accident, you understand how precarious it is on the road, even if you are a good driver. I allowed myself to feel empathy for the woman who hit me, as it had to be tough to plow into someone else and even tougher to realize that she just smashed up her car. And even tougher to do it all with a child in the car.

The bottom line, all is well. I am going to make it through today. For others, they may not be able to say the same.

May Our Lady of the Highways watch and protect us all on our ride home today.