My sister says God was in the back seat. My brother would lean toward Buddha. And this is what I picture when I think about it; God and Buddha and a few others gently burrowing in, polite and elbows ready, everyone is smiling and negotiating for a good comfy seat while we sail over the ravine, my colored blonde hair flowing with grace behind me.

We sailed through the air like Thelma and Louise.

My head slowly turned to the left.

“What are you doing?” I asked him.

Like many things in life, “this” was unexpected. It was an accident. And just like that, your life takes a different turn. You face the new and unforeseen. Your path has changed, for the moment or more permanently.

And you pack along those items that have always been packed for the ride. Things like sibling love.

Sibling love. It is the foundation to so many of the events to follow in life – relationships with others, how we care for our kids, and how we care for our parents.

Did you and your siblings share? Did you learn to argue and negotiate? Could you rely on them? As you got older, were they there when you needed them? Did they answer the phone? Did you respect each other’s life choices? Even when you didn’t always understand or agree with them? Were your adult joint experiences strengthened or did they weaken your natural relationship with each other?

Siblings tend to follow you around in your life whether you choose to have them follow or not. My siblings and I don’t always get it right. We disagree. We shake our heads. We walk on our own. But we always circle back and try again. We have the foundation. I am lucky in that.

In this particular accident, I broke five ribs and suffered a collapsed lung. I have read descriptions of ribs in which they are described as a cage. I think of my ribs more like a nest. The nest that holds most of the important stuff. The vital body stuff alongside some of the other “important stuff” – the inner core – the love and the faith that circles and keeps you moving forward.

There was a huge bouquet of love that surrounded me on that afternoon as my nest was rattled around a bit. But I like the idea that I am driving along with the faith that my siblings carry along with their love for me. I like the idea that we are all in this car together.

This is one way I drive through this topsy-turvy life.