A Gift That Saved My Life

Final paragraph of "The Gift" posted on April 22, 2004

In the fourteen years since I have only removed it for x-rays and surgeries. Also I can honestly say that this gold chain once saved my life but that is a tale for another day.

It was Thanksgiving Eve and I was on disability from my then employer due to recent knee surgery. Nothing major, just a scope to clean out some old debris. However, it was my third surgery on the same knee and my rehab was taking longer than planned. My range of movement and flexibility resembled the movements of a mime doing the old trapped in the box routine. My doctor had me in physical therapy four days a week and he also recommended a daily bike ride.

At the time I was living in North Hollywood so there were plenty of place to explore on my rehab rides. I spent most of my time riding in and around Griffith Park. For those of you who are not familiar with the Los Angeles area, Griffith Park is a huge tract of land left to the city on the condition that the land be preserved as is for future generations. Which for the most part it has.

On this particular ride I changed my normal routine and rode to my favorite use bookstore: The Iliad. A great place to browse with several overstuffed couches and books to suit every readers taste. A quick aside The Iliad just happens to be located adjacent to The Odyssey Video Store.

Upon finishing my browsing I hobbled out to my bike and began the ride home. Now in hindsight the following incident would most probably have been avoided if it wasn't rush hour and if I had chosen to ride with the traffic instead of against it.

I had ridden maybe two blocks stopping at each side street before crossing without problem. I came to the third block stopped and saw a car waiting to turn into traffic. Since traffic was heavy I assumed she would be awhile and left the curb. Unfortunately the driver of the car decided that the very small gap she saw was large enough for her to force her way into traffic. She accelerated and never even saw me.

Her car hit me broad side. My bike and I slid under the car and my tender skull seemed to be destined for a rather painful introduction to her right front tire. I closed my eyes and did my best to prepare for what I assumed to be imminent impact. Suddenly instead of sliding my entire body was jerked to a stop. I opened my eyes and her tire was coming to a stop well short of my skull. For a moment or two I just kind of laid there in a daze. As I began to pull myself together I realized that I had never hit the ground. It seems that my gold chain and crucifix had caught on the bumper and prevented my head from becoming a pancake.

When it was all said and done I walked away without any major injuries, just a sprained shoulder, a burn on my neck from the chain and various bumps and bruises.

The next day when I arrived at my mom's for Thanksgiving dinner I gave her a big hug and a kiss and thanked her for helping to save my life.