Accidents will happen....

Up until this year, I'd been driving to more than 90% of my tour destinations. Some of my longer-distance drives had begun to take their toll, so I've been changing things up by cutting out a couple entirely, and looking for good deals on airfare for others. But I'm still doing a LOT more driving than the average person lol.

One drive which I particularly enjoy, and is what I consider to be a comfortable distance, is Louisville, Kentucky.

The beautiful green scenery and rolling hills absolutely charm me!

Unfortunately, as adept and experienced a driver I am, the twisting and winding roads of that state's rural areas were very new to me.

I'm also unaccustomed to the local drivers, some of whom take those

S-curves at speeds exceeding the posted limits and apparently have a penchant for tailgating those who do not.

The photos below show the result and yes, that was my personal vehicle.

An ambulance was called; the EMTs who checked me out said I had a bump on the top of my head (I hit it on the inside roof of the vehicle) and light scratches, likely from the airbag, but was fine overall.

So I flew home thinking I was totally okay.

This was a very humbling experience for me. I've done the touring-provider gig on and off for years and in between I was a traveling stripper, driving to clubs throughout the upper Midwest.

So both my late Jeep and I have racked up a lot of miles; perhaps this made me a bit complacent, I don't know. I do know that neither my beloved Jeep nor I are, or were, as indestructible as I'd thought.

The insurance adjustor took one look and declared it a total loss.

Like with a pet, I can replace it with an identical one but it won't be the same. That SUV lasted longer than any of my relationships: more than 10 years and nearly 250,000 miles without any serious issues.

I'll miss it greatly.

As for me? For the first few days I had headaches which seemed to be lessening each day. But then they worsened. I won't bore you with the details but I should have taken this more seriously from the day it happened. I'm now taking proper care of myself, with more tests being done in the very near future, and I plan to follow all doctor's orders.

I've shared this with a few friends, whom I'm happy to say have all been very supportive. I'm on the mend and truly do not need anything right now other than time.

If you are ever in any kind of accident: please go to the hospital to be thoroughly checked out, or follow up with your own primary care physician ASAP. You never know when that might make all the difference.

For those who might ask if there's anything you can do: please consider donating to any of the following nonprofit organizations I've listed below. (Just copy & paste the address into your browser!)

Brain Injury Network: http://www.braininjurynetwork.org

Hope After Brain Injury: http://www.hopeafterbraininjury.org

Brain Trauma Foundation: www.braintrauma.org

Of course, I do appreciate any thoughtful gifts you might wish to give/send to me but let me say again: I do not need anything other than a little time, plus some patience & forgiveness from those on whom I've had to cancel.

Thank you for taking the time to read this!