Black Friday is an interesting day for me. When I was 20 years old, home for Thanksgiving weekend, I drove from our town of Snohomish, Wash. to Bothell to hear a band play at a grange hall. I was with two high school girlfriends, Mary and Rebecca, who were sisters.

People in the band were friends. My goal was to ask one of the guys in the band to our sorority dance. It was a Tolo type of dance, where the girl asked the boy.

We parked across the street. Rebecca was stopping cars on the busy highway so we could cross. I froze in the headlights and held onto the hood of Rebecca’s parka, when a pick up truck came racing toward us.

The truck hit us both.

I bounced onto the hood, shattered the windshield and landed 35 feet on the other side. I was on the highway lying in a pool of blood with tires driving by — inches from my face.

Thank goodness for Mary, who wasn’t hit and watched it all happen. She called the ambulance and I was off to Evergreen Hospital for a few weeks. Rebecca refused to be admitted and lost a kidney later.

This is another one my memories of Thanksgiving week that isn’t so great. Our dear friend died Thanksgiving 2021. Kitty died Sunday and then I have the memory of getting hit by a truck.

But one of the unexpected outcomes of that Black Friday was gratitude. Yes, there was pain. Months of not walking. I had to come home from college for a quarter.

My priorities in life profoundly changed.

Waiting in the hospital bed for a physical therapist to show up, I realized my two strong desires. To walk again and be able to go to the bathroom. I no longer cared about losing five pounds. I didn’t care about the latest fashion. I didn’t care about grades.

Life is precious. And I appreciate every moment.

What life changing moment have you experienced where your priorities changed?