Story 14: My brother's gift of life

My brother Bruce turned 45 on the night of a terrible rainstorm. There were hurricane-like winds, severe flooding, and many trees got knocked over. Bruce and I were heading to Minado’s Japanese restaurant on Long Island to have a celebration dinner with friends.  

We were driving south on the Meadowbrook Parkway at highway speed in the right-hand lane when all of the sudden I heard a scream. 

“Look out!” Bruce yelled.

An African-American man was standing in the middle of the right hand lane facing our car.  He was gesturing wildly for me to slow down.  I honked my horn and swerved into the center lane narrowly avoiding hitting him. Fortunately, I didn’t hit any other cars either in the process.

A few minutes later, we arrived at the restaurant. No sooner had we gotten there, when we began to hear the distant howl of sirens.  When my friends Dave and Nathan arrived they had a similar harrowing tale to tell.

“We were driving on the Meadowbrook and after some terrible traffic we saw several police cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck.” Dave told us.

“What happened?” I asked.

“Apparently,” Dave related. “Someone drove his car into the woods, but why that happened isn’t clear.”

I told Dave about what I saw and we both just shook our heads in confusion.  I never found out what happened to the driver or the car or the man in the road, but I presumed the worst. What I want to know, is why was that strange man in the middle of the road at night? Was he trying to kill himself? Was he drunk?  He definitely wasn’t a ghost, but probably ended up that way.

Life Lesson Fourteen: The best thing to do is avoid driving when you are anxious or angry. Take your time, and remember the advice “Better to be late, than to be the late.”