Sunday, March 1, 2009

COUNT MY BLESSINGS !!!

I was so excited to start my week end (see previous entry) but it all went downhill as I was leaving the parking lot at work. I was on the side of our building that approaches 2nd street. It is basically a part of our parking lot. I got up to 2nd St. which is a one way. I stopped and looked to my right. The direction the traffic would be coming from. Nothing, so I inched forward and BOOM! I look and there is a young man (twenties) on a bike in the street. I immediately jump out of my car and go to him. I asked him if he was OK, if I can help him off the street, if he needs medical attention .....all the usuals. I was shaking like a leaf! Another man stops and comes over. I have the young man off the street and I'm getting his bike off the street. A lady stops. I tell him I work in this building, please, let's go in and call the police etc. He refuses. Says he just wants to get to work. I asked him again to just come in and we'll file a report and I want to make sure he is OK. He refuses again. The lady then asks me if I need a cell phone? I tell her no, I have one and I'm trying to get him to go into my work and we will call. He refuses again. Finally, I talk him into getting into my car and the man loads his bike into my trunk. The man gives me his name and number as a witness.
We exchange information and I drive Stephan to his job and tell him I will take his bike to Cafferty's to be repaired and then I will return it. I call Tony and he immediately comes down to Cafferty's and goes with me into the store to see about fixing the bike. The front wheel was bent and they say it is not worth fixing. We then go to Stillman's and take a wheel off of an old bike and replace the bent one. We load the bike and go to our home, blow up the tires and head back to the place where I left Stephan. He was helping to move a salon from one location to another, a block south. I went in and the lady said he was down a block at the other location but he was complaining about his leg hurting. I told her I had tried to get him to let me take him to the hospital but he had refused. I would talk to him again. Tony and I went down to the other location where we found Stephan. He followed us out and to our truck where we had his bike. His employer followed us as well. I told him that I would like to take him to the hospital to have his leg checked. He refused again and said he was fine. He was happy with his bike and glad it was fixed. His employer then said that he was glad we had returned and that we were good people and could see that we were anxious to help him and do the right thing. He then left and Stephan said he could use a few bucks because he wasn't going to be paid until this job was over and it would be a few days. Tony gave him a twenty and we asked again if we could take him in and have his leg checked. He said no and went back to work. We went home. I was a nervous wreck! Every time the phone rang or the doorbell rang, I panicked! Tony called the witness and he verified that I had tried to get him to file a police report and that I tried to take him to the hospital. I finally went to bed and was expending A LOT of energy fidgeting and tossing and turning. Tony said he wanted to give me a blessing and did so. He then proceeded to read to me from the Ensign and I was able to go to sleep. I slept all night and the next morning we went to the police dept. and filed a report. The officer said that they would probably not even have come down unless I insisted. He said since Stephan was refusing help and it was under $1500 dollars and it was on private property and he appeared to be fine, they
would not have come. He also said that Stephan was going against the one way traffic, he was on the sidewalk, and he was riding in a radius of downtown that is prohibited to bikes! He said it sounded to him like we had gone above and beyond what we were required to do. I felt 100% better after talking to the officer. It was not a pleasant way to start my weekend. I love my husband who was so kind and understanding and supportive. I am so grateful for the Priesthood and the comfort the spirit brings. It was a scary thing to happen but I learned a valuable lesson.





4 comments:

CPTA said...

Wow! What a day! That was some story! I'm glad the man was okay, and that you had a witness too! I'm glad that the story the police told you about the regulations in the area. Tony's blessing helped I'm sure. Love you both and I'm glad that everyone's okay.

Unknown said...

I would've been scared out of my mind!!! Well, hopefully not out of my mind - I hope I'd have enough mental functionality left to do what you did! :-) Great job taking care of the guy; glad he was okay - and you did everything you could to make it right, and I'm so glad that some other people stopped to help, too! What a comforting blessing, too - so glad everything worked out okay...

CPTA said...

You are a good person Mom. I think most people here would have backed up, hit the gas a second time to finish the job, and then buried the body in their back yard. 20 bucks sounds better! I don't remember getting a $20 when I got hit. That's a good story for the grandkids Mom. Love you!

Chris

ChrisandTamara said...

Glad you are feeling better. Glad you talked to the police about it. We love you!