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This is hard for me - so bear with me. 

See, I'm the type of person who my friends would describe as "strong" - a "survivor" - and yes, even a "care taker". 

Then, I was in an auto accident.

I had gone to a dog show in the neighboring state with my friend and dog show buddy.  We had brought my then 14 year old daughter with us because we had 4 dog entered and a third hand would be useful - plus she's a pretty junior handler so that never hurts in the dog show ring.

Since the show was less than a 3 hour drive, we decided NOT to take our RV.  See, if a dog show was more than 3 hours away - we'd take our RV and camp overnight.  However, this show was just under 3 hours away - so we took my friend's SUV.  We had the 3 dogs in crates in the back and my friend's prize bitch was laying between us with her head on my lap.  My daughter was in the backseat, leaning forward to be part of the conversation.

Things went fairly well at the show and we were in a good mood on the way home despite the rain.  After almost three hours in the car, we were within 2 miles of my house.  We had just passed through a major intersection - and we were traveling west in the left hand lane on a one way road when the car in front of us made a SHARP left hand turn. 

A life altering moment....

I remember my friend screaming, "Oh SHIT!" as the car turned in front of use. She was literally STANDING on the brake trying to get the massive SUV stopped on the wet highway.

I don't remember doing it - but my maternal instincts obviously "kicked" in. I clutched my friend's dog to my chest.

Fortunately for the dog, the airbags had been disabled. My friend is less than 5 feet tall and she disabled the airbag for when her boyfriend would drive.

I remember watching glass shower over the hood of the red Tahoe. It was in slow motion - just like in the movies.

When we finally came to rest, we had t-boned the 4 door sedan that had turned in front of us.

I was shaken - my knees were bleeding from hitting the dash and my head hurt. My seatbelt hadn't tightened and I had hit my head on the door frame. After what I had seen - I didn't think it was possible - but I didn't' think I was seriously injured.

When the police asked if we needed an ambulance - I said no. We had the dogs in the car - how could we?

My daughter braced for the impact. Her shoulder and elbow hurt but she too seemed fine.

We called my husband and he came and "rescued" us from the scene of the accident.

All was well - I thought.

The next morning - I was horrified. I awoke to seering pain in my neck and shoulders. I felt as though I'd been mugged. My knees were swollen and bruised and I could barely walk.

So much for emerging from the accident unscathed - I should have known from the damage to the HUGE SUV that I was in a serious auto accident!

However, it turns out - at the time - my body had entered a "fight or flight" mode. Now that I was "down" from that high - I was able to feel every injury. The pain was intense.

It was a Sunday - and while we had planned to drive back to show another day, we were glad to be alive.

By this time, I decided I needed medical attention. When I went to the hospital - they treated me like I was just looking for pain medication -which I was but because I hadn't come DIRECTLY from the accident - in an ambulance as had been offered at the time - my injuries were dismissed. I was told to take Tylenol and go home.

The next day- I went to see my family doctor. Again - with no "broken bones" and only a huge lump on my head - I was dismissed - but at least she gave me something for the pain.

The rest of the following week remains a blur. I do remember that the pain medicine did very little to "cut" the pain. I spent a lot of time in bed, trying not to move.

WOW! I am STUNNED at how emotionally draining it is to recount this. However, I don't want my "fellow hubsters" to think that I created this hub for "financial gain". (I don't have an Adsense hooked to this hub.)

Again - this whole experience is something I've kept VERY close to my chest. For reasons that will become obvious later - this auto accident was the beginning of the end of a lot of things in my life.