On Black Friday 2013, my husband and I were in a rollover accident in our pickup truck. We were driving to Spokane to spend some time with friends hunting, watching the Seahawks win, and enjoying some down time.

It all happened so fast: The truck hit a patch of black ice, and I heard my husband say, “There is nothing more I can do” as he tried to steer out of the skid. The truck hit the edge of the road, and as we rolled into the ditch, the tires blew out. We flipped over once and then twice. With glass shattering all around us and metal crunching as we hit the frozen earth, I couldn’t believe this was really happening. How is this a joyful experience?

1) We were alive with no broken bones or major injuries.

2) Two people driving by stopped to help get my husband out of the truck.

3) Marv, an off-duty nurse, stayed with us until an ambulance arrived.

4) A paramedic going home from his night shift, and countless other people, helped with encouragement and kindness as our truck lay upside down in a frozen field far from home.

5) My good friend Kenny drove a 100 miles to pick us up at the hospital.

6) He drove us home—another 200 miles.

We count our blessings every day: good health, good friends, and kind strangers.

Yes, this turned into a Joyful Experience.

Mary and Leonard Boley are happily living in Lynnwood with their two furry kids, Hanna and Rudy, golden retrievers, who were not, thank goodness, traveling with us on Black Friday. They made the right choice to stay at doggy Disneyland.

This is Mary’s response to an online exercise in my Write about Your Life class—write about a joyful experience. It blew my socks off with its intensity and amazing end twist. If you want to Share Stories, send them to Ariele at ariele@comcast.net. Photos are a plus and please add a where you’re from, how old, or career type one-sentence bio at the end of the story. Ariele M. Huff