To the woman who lives at...

...1047 Rolland E. Gardner Court in Columbus:
Did you know you almost killed me tonight? You didn't even seem to be aware that you almost plowed into my car. And not just my car - me! Me - head-on into the driver's side. Did you know I have a husband that loves me, not to mention family and cats? Did you know that, if I hadn't change my speed, you would have hit a bullseye - I mean, dead-on, perfect aim?

To refresh your memory, you took a left turn (illegally, I think, based on my driving around the exact same shopping center every week for two years) into Broad Street. Maybe you were looking at the traffic coming westbound on Broad and didn't notice me headed eastbound. Maybe you thought I would slow down, or speed up. I'm glad you didn't slow down. Between slamming on my brakes to keep from being hit by you, but not slamming down to hard to avoid being rear-ended, I don't think I could have compensated for you being any less committed to making your left turn.

As a side note, I'm sure your pretty blue Benz coupe would have been trashed as well, although not as much as say - my head.

I think it was the adrenalin or my curiosity (Are you high? Senile? Talking on your cell? Sad about something? Lonely and distracted? Rude?) that caused me to follow you to your house. I really just wanted to ask you, even after I screeched my brakes and honked my horn, did you notice me? I didn't have the guts to get out of my car though...

My first inclination was to send this via snail mail, but I'm sure that - after I settle down - we'll both be glad that I didn't.

Maybe this is karmic - I am thinking What if I was talking on my cellphone, or it was raining or I was distracted? Maybe you came along to remind me that life is a thread, subject to unexpected breakage? Maybe you are just not nice. Or a bad driver. Or made a mistake and are still shaking about it, worse than me.

Regardless, the stars were brighter during the rest of the drive home, my house is more welcoming and I'm definitely more appreciative.

Please try, though, to avoid having this same kind of perspective-adjusting effect on anyone else in the future.

'Night