I’ve never been in a serious car crash, or even a real accident, that was until last year February. It was a Saturday night, just three days after my birthday. My dad, mom, sister and I were driving by car back from Miami where we took a cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. Cruises are our favorite thing to do as a family, especially when it’s on Carnival cruise ships. I was particularly exited since this was one of the first times we were going somewhere for my birthday. Being born in a typically colder and “snowier” month makes it kind of difficult to leave the house. But somehow I managed to convince my parents to take us somewhere warm and sunny this February break.  We were supposed to have a huge snow storm in New York throughout the week we were gone. I remembered checking the weather for Long Island, feeling quite pleased that we would be escaping that terrible weather.

Of course all good things must come to an end, and it was time to go home. We enjoyed the warm, blue watered beaches in Mexico while it lasted. I was not ready to face the bitter code of New York. We had received countless calls from family members (mostly from my grandma) warning us about the dreadful storm we were about to face. From the beginning, we had thought the storm would only last for the week we were gone. Or so we thought.

It was around seven o’clock at night when we had reached the New Jersey Turnpike. The car trip had seemed much shorter, as it always does when driving back home from somewhere far. We were making good time but as warned, we encountered the harsh snow storm. As we drove down the long expressway, we say at least ten vehicles that were off to the side of the road, buried in snow. My mom reminded my dad to take his time on the thick icy road; that there was no rush to getting home. Unfortunately we slipped up; literally. I was listening to music on my phone when suddenly I heard a loud, “Wait!” from my mom, as she tried grabbing the steering wheel from the passenger’s seat. I pulled my headphones real fast and saw that we were headed for a road sign. I felt the car slide across the ice as I heard the crunching of the snow beneath the car tires. Everything happened so fast and unexpectedly. My heart skipped beats in my chest as we slid off the side of the road, barely missing the road sign. When the car came to a stop, I peered out the window to see that we were almost completely buried in snow. My dad asked us if we were all okay and my sister and I answered “yes” in a shaky voice. He came out of the car to see if we had any major damages. Almost half of the car door was covered in snow and he had to dig through it.

We called 911 where they gave us the number to the highway patrol officers around the area. After calling and waiting for the elevator music to end, a woman’s voice finally answered. My dad told the woman where we were and said that she would send an officer to help us. It took about a half hour before a highway patrol office came. He contacted a tow truck to come and help us out which took about another half hour. Now it was about an hour that we were sitting in our car, praying that a tow truck passing would notice us. It felt like the longest hour of my life. Thinking that no one would come and help us, we got impatient. To make matters worse, my back started to ache. I’ve never wanted to be home as much as I did while sitting in that car. I watched as the other vehicles drove passed us with a great amount of speed.

Finally, after waiting and waiting a tow truck finally came. The man told us that it’s been a very busy night for him, trying to help as many people as he could due to the heavy storm. The man attached his truck hook to the front of our car and told my dad to step on the gas as he pulled. After a few tries, I finally felt the truck hurdle us out. We were back on the road. The thick icy road. The man told us to be careful and to be safe. My dad, attempting to get our minds off the whole situation, drove us to the nearest rest stop to get Starbucks. I got a hot chocolate, which wasn’t a bad choice for this arctic weather. My sister, Adriana, got hot chocolate as well. As we sat together, drinking our warm drinks, my mom told me something that I continue to take into account today.

What happened that night could have been worse. We could have fallen into a lake or even off a cliff. We were very lucky that we were all safe and that the car shifted the way it did and didn’t precariously flip over. It’s important to cherish the special moments you have with the ones you love because you never know when it can end in an instant. A couple days ago we were on a cruise enjoying ourselves, having the time of our lives. And then suddenly we get into an accident. It still amazes me how powerful nature can be. The way that the slushy wet snow and ice took complete control of our car tires was unbelievable.  I guess Mother Nature thought that we couldn’t run away from the cold for long.