I was under the weather yesterday, and honestly, I’m still not quite up to par today. As a result, I didn’t get much done in the garage. I’m not sure if my illness was related to the weather or not, but it rained here most of the day. Whatever the cause, I simply didn’t feel like doing much of anything.

The heaviest rainfall came around 4:00 yesterday afternoon. My daughter was on her way home from work. Normally, her commute takes about 50 minutes, but with the rain, it took much longer.

We use an app on our phones that shares family locations. One feature I both appreciate and dread is that it alerts us when there’s a sudden stop along the way. Usually, that means someone has stopped for gas or coffee. Unfortunately, your mind always jumps to less pleasant possibilities.

My daughter had been talking to my wife through her car’s hands-free system, but decided to hang up so she could concentrate on the road conditions. A few minutes later, her boyfriend called to check on her. While talking with him, she hit a section of roadway that was partially covered in water.

The next thing she knew, her car was hydroplaning. She spun several 360-degree turns before crashing into the center guardrail.

As you can tell from the pictures, her car is pretty torn up. The front, rear, and right side all have extensive damage. If the insurance company doesn’t total it, I’ll be shocked.

Thankfully, my daughter is okay. She has some bruising on her left hand, which we think happened when she instinctively braced for impact. Surprisingly, the airbags never deployed.

Now comes the fun part—dealing with the insurance company. Since she doesn’t have rental car coverage, she’ll be without a vehicle for a while. My wife has already volunteered her car so our daughter can continue getting to work until the insurance company decides whether the car will be repaired or replaced.

That leaves my wife and me sharing one vehicle. With both of us having doctor appointments and other obligations, there’s going to be quite a bit of scheduling gymnastics in the coming weeks.

Still, the important thing is that my daughter walked away from the accident. Cars can be repaired or replaced. People can’t.

There will be inconveniences, sacrifices, and more than a little juggling of schedules, but that’s what parents do. No matter how old our children get, when they need help, we step in and do whatever we can to make sure they have what they need.