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I had a 5 mile drive home on one stretch of highway.  On this particular day I had forgotten my sunglasses.  On a normal day I would be taking a right out of the parking lot then a left onto the highway.  Today it is the opposite.

Orange County Brokerage Firm marks the beginning of mile one.  Yes, I am a broker and, yes, I live in Orange County.  I have two beautiful children and a wife that makes Brooke Shields look like Margret Thatcher.

Mile one is a mixture of different sized office buildings with a hospital tucked away just off the highway.  I was in a minor fender bender a few weeks ago with my Silver C Class Benz, just back there, by Turner Attorneys at Law.  You’d think it was NASCAR pile-up the way the ambulances surround the intersection.

Miles two is always marked by the Orange County High School, give or take a quarter-mile.  It’s always full of cars that most families in the US could only imagine having.  It’s nice to know that the youth of America is being shown that money actually grows on trees so they are prepared for when they enter the “real world.”  Oh, of course, there she is, Ms. OC, everyone calls her.  Platinum blonde, Olivia Newton-John clone.  She is always running when I leave work.  Thank god for the high school traffic. I don’t mind “keeping an eye on her” for about a half a mile.  There she goes, cutting down Franklin at mile three.

Mile three begins a beautiful neighborhood just past the main part of town.  Mixed in are a few Mom and Pop stores that the family and I frequent for lunch and dinner on the weekends.  There is nothing better than a well-cooked meal from someone who cares just as much about the quality of service as you do when you go out.  I can remember my first job at “Charlie’s” when I was 15.  I was the best dishwasher they had.  I cleaned those dishes to a mirror shine.  You could drop them on the floor and still want to eat off of them.  There food is still some of the best around.

Sigh, finally home sweet home.  I never just space out when driving home.  It always feels more like a ten mile drive rather than a five mile drive.  I am not going to complain though.  Seems like everyone is a little stir crazy today.  I can hear sirens too.  Ha, probably another fender bender.  I must have just missed it.  The sirens are getting louder, must be somewhere between here and Franklin.  Strange…I hope everyone is okay.  It seems my world gets more and more complicated with each passing day.

My house is a mess.

“Hello?”

The front door is open.  The television is on.  The water in the kitchen sink is still running.  What is going on here?

“The corner of Franklin and Main St. was shakin’ up this afternoon with a deadly car crash.  A silver Mercedes was blind-sided by an out of control tractor trailer…” the news reporter said from the TV.

Oh my god that could have been me.  I can’t believe the news crew already got to it.  I have to see this. This is what I am talking about though.  No one else in this family takes responsibility for anything.  Dad will always clean up the mess.

Great, my car was stolen now?  How does this happen?  I’ll walk it’s not that far.  I mean don’t get me wrong.  I love my family to death, but the fact is there needs to be more give and take.  Family life is a two way street.  This morning I left the house in a rage saying all the wrong things to my wife.  The kids were crying, but I said what I needed to say.

The intersection is coming into view.  The ambulances and fire trucks surround the intersection.  I still can’t see anything.

She told me that she was sleeping with someone else.  I was blinded with rage.  I shouted at her and called her names.  I tossed her on the bed.  I loved her and cared for her every need.  I brought the children into it when they wouldn’t stop playing games at the breakfast table.

The silver Mercedes is demolished in the middle of the intersection.  The inside of the car ruined with the blood of the driver.  Is that my family? I wave at them and they don’t respond.  Sigh.

As I lowered my head I took my last gasp of real air.  A realization had passed through my body.  I fell to my knees.  I could see my family crying through the shattered windows of the wrecked car.  I loved my family more than anything in the world.  My single biggest regret was that I was there to listen to my wife explain herself, and allow my children to be children.  I knew my family loved me and that is why my wife was there to tell me.  The license plate of the car was all too familiar to me.  It taunted me and starred me back in the face.  I stood and walked over to the car and looked onto the passenger seat.  A tear fell from my face and I waved goodbye to my family.

It was me.