Putting on the Brakes

In October 2017, I was driving with a friend from British Columbia to Ontario. It was our first day on the road.

My friend’s daughter and her partner were travelling with us too, but in another vehicle.

We had only been driving for about two hours when the first winter storm of Alberta rolled in.

I followed behind an eighteen-wheeler. The weight of the truck carved clearer tracks in the snow, and it felt safer to stay in its path.

Then the truck turned off. Almost instantly, the snow began falling harder. We only had summer tires.

Within minutes I could feel the road changing beneath us — slick, uncertain.

And then… the car started sliding to the right.

Instinctively, I shouted, loud and sharp,
“ANGELS!”

My friend jumped at the sound of my voice. At the same time, she braced herself — the deep ditch on her side rushing closer and closer.

The car kept sliding.

Then suddenly —it stopped right at the edge of the ditch. I got out carefully and went to look at the angel of the wheels. It was not good at all. We couldn’t move.

The snow whipped sideways, the wind howling at what felt like eighty miles an hour. Everything outside the windshield was white and wild.

We made contact with our friends, but they were hauling a trailer behind their car and it was too dangerous for them to stop.

About five minutes later, a tow truck coming from the opposite direction stopped and pulled away from the edge of the ditch. The driver told us afterwards,

“The police have just shut down this highway. Turn back. You’ll never make it forward — the eye of the storm is up ahead.”

I turned the car around and was in awe of what had just transpired. So was my friend. Not only were we protected from going into the ditch, something had stopped us exactly where we need to stop.

And that man, just happened to be driving a tow truck?

My friend and I quietly thanked the angels more than once.