Throwback Thursday #54: The Shoney's Sign

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die." ~Eccl. 3:1

Last weekend I drove by Shoney's restaurant. I noticed that they were removing the huge sign that stood in the parking lot. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the restaurant had closed down. I couldn't help but think back to 9 years ago and how that restaurant may have saved my life.
My senior year of high school, our team made it to the State Basketball Tournament. We decorated the bus, packed up our bags, and got ready to play ball and spend a week in the big city. We won our first round game, which put us into the semi-finals. There, we ended up losing in a really close game to the team that would go on to win the State Championship.

The next morning, it was time to head home. I always rode the bus, as did most of the other girls on the team. But that morning, my mom called and asked if I wanted to ride home with her and Little Brother so that we could stop and have breakfast with Auntie. The breakfast destination? You guessed it. Shoney's. I distinctly remember thinking, "this is my last bus trip, maybe I should go home with everyone else." But then several of my friends were already headed out with their own parents instead of on the bus, and I always love getting to see Auntie, so I decided to go home with my family instead.

We had breakfast at Shoney's that morning and then headed out of town. About 30 minutes into the trip home, my phone ring. It was my friend, who we can now call Mrs. Blue Eyes (because she married the famous Blue Eyes several years after high school). The bus had been in an accident. Everyone was going to meet up at the hospital in Santa Rosa. So we drove the hour to the hospital and pulled in. We didn't know many details, but I don't remember being very worried.

And then that changed. As we were walking in I heard the ambulance people talking about deaths. And I saw someone being wheeled in who was burned from head to toe. All of a sudden, "the bus was in an accident" had a real different meaning.

There had been a fire and dust storm blowing across the road. Some car stopped on the highway just over a hill. And then one car hit the first car. Then another did the same. There ended up being like 10 cars involved, including our bus, which was one of the last vehicles to crash into this mess. And then the pile up caught on fire.
Fortunately, there were only 4 girls, one coach and a bus driver on the bus. They all got out alive. Aside from the bus driver breaking a bone and a few cuts and bruises, everyone was just fine. The emergency officers said that had there been anyone else on that bus, there would not have been time to get them out alive.

I don't know why life works the way it does. 8 people died on the highway that day. Had it not been for breakfast at Shoney's, that number could have been higher. I guess everytime I have driven by that Shoney's sign, I remembered how fortunate we all were that day. I remembered to say a prayer of thanksgiving and a prayer for those whose lives were not saved by breakfast. Now, I will have to remember this without the help from the sign. I probably shouldn't have needed a sign to remember to do that anyway.