When you decide to take a road trip with your family, you try to think of everything you could possibly need, plan for every possible scenario, anticipate every detail from the clothes you will wear to the needs the car might have and so in accordance to this, the week before we set off for Florida, Michael took the time to made sure that the car had all the routine maintenance it could possibly need to get us to Florida safely so you can imagine our surprise when, with no warning whatsoever as the car had never given any indication that it was having electrical issues, on Friday, July 13th the alternator died, leaving us stranded with a dead battery in the middle of a 2 lane bridge in Louisiana in the dead of night. It was terrifying, the bridge on US 190 [Ronald Regan Hwy] was built in the early 1900’s from what I could tell and a hazard from what we heard after the fact from the locals, its only 4 lanes total, 2 east/2 westbound with no space whatsoever to pull over in case of emergency, we were the 3rd car to break down that on that bridge that day but to our disadvantage, it was dark, with thunder and lightning and the dead battery which meant no working lights to let others know that we were invading an actual lane.

I have to credit God with my ability to stay calm in a crisis and just react as necessary before the car was at a complete stop I was climbing down, barefoot and using one of the phone’s flashlight as a way to let others know we were there. Never in my life had a been more grateful for a white car and my obsession with fully charged phone batteries.
Kaleb dialed 911 and had Michael talk to them while I praised and sang and worshipped God and signaled with the flashlight so that people would notice us stranded.
I was already having the worst week of my life and struggling to keep myself together, God was all the strength I had left and I trusted him to keep us safe on that bridge, but just to be smart I had the kids get out of the car and stay away. I can’t take credit for that moment of brilliant thinking, I could almost hear the Holy Spirit whispering in my ear “why do they stay in the car?” It’s a thought I’ve had a million times when I read about tragedies that happen on the road and thank God I had the wisdom to listen. I know, it probably sounds crazy to you but if you had been there, you’d understand. I am not crazy, God is just that real.
As soon as Michael’s call to 911 ended, he grabbed another phone that was fully charged and started using that flashlight also, we had a handful of close calls, so close I was sure they were going to hit us but God was on that bridge with us that night because not a single car ever touched us, somehow, every single driver, noticed us and managed to safely move out of the way. The biggest help came from the 18 wheelers who would slow down almost to a complete stop when they saw us and flashed their hazard lights to force others to slow down also since the speed limit on that bridge was 55 and yet no one was doing less than 70, I have a new found respect for truck drivers, their quick thinking helped everyone on that bridge, not just us.
Kaleb stated it took the first cop 10-15 mins to reach us, but I swear it felt like so much longer.

A pickup truck driving good samaritan, pulled over and parked in front of us, before the cops arrived, in hopes of pulling us off the bridge. In a day and age where no one stops to help anyone anymore, this driver and his passenger did and we could not say thank you enough. I hated that we were not carrying cash because I wanted to show more appreciation than just saying thank you for the hundredth millionth time.
Trust & believe, we said ‘thank you’ a lot that night.

3 patrol units, 4 cops ended up showing up.
It must be a small town Louisiana thing because I have never seen 3 neighboring departments show up to a scene. We had the 2 officers from the Point Coupe sheriff’s dept, an officer from Krotz Springs and another from the Louisiana State Police. These men were so amazing, working hard to find a way to quickly get us all off the bridge. The men in the pick up pulled us off the road and to a nearby gas station where we waited until the tow truck arrived. The nice man from Krotz Spring, drove me and the kids off the bridge while Michael and the 2 men from the pickup towed the car off the bridge while the Point Coupe and state police served as escort. I am not going to lie, they could’ve totaled my back bumper pushing my car off the bridge with a patrol unit and I wouldn’t have cared one bit, I just wanted us all off that bridge, not just my family but the cops and good Samaritans also.

In the end, more than 4 officers and 2 civilians ended up assisting us that night, I was informed by the Krotz Spring’s officer that a woman driving in the opposite direction had seen us stranded and she actually stopped by the station to let them know we were there and when we arrived at the Oak Tree Inn the lady at the counter informed us that they had been expecting us as yet another police officer had gone by to let them know we were stranded and would be needing a room for the night. The motel was perfectly placed next to a large field for the dogs to run and a 24 hr dinner, so everyone had all we needed for the night, the employee tried to get us a big room but they only had singles available, trust and believe we didn’t care how big the room was, we were only there for the night and needed a safe place to sleep and rest. 4 people and 2 dogs managed very well in the small room, and she was amazingly helpful, gave us more toiletries, extra blankets, pillows, and towels than 4 people could possibly need.
Meanwhile the incredibly helpful officers from Point Coupe, having escorted us from the gas station to the motel, then proceeded to drive Michael to an ATM so he could pay the tow truck, I believe they may have gotten in trouble by a superior they ran into at the ATM location for driving Michael around but he tells me they didn’t seem too concerned about it, as they saw it as part of their job description of serving the community, personally I feel like they went above and beyond for us, driving us off the bridge, finding us a safe place for the night, making jokes to keep the kids calm. I felt so blessed by the entire fiasco, God just kept placing the perfect people in our path along the way. All things considered, everything worked out well.

The next morning, we were wondering how we would get to the auto parts store and back on the road. Michael had done his research the night before, the motel had surprisingly good wifi, and had found that there was a nearby store that opened at 7, so he set an alarm, called as soon as they opened and praised Jesus! they had our alternator in stock, Michael had them set it aside for us and then proceeded to ask a few people for assistance to jump-start the car unsuccessfully, we had the cables but they just didn’t want to help, which was ok, he walked to the gas station next to the motel and asked an employee where we could get some assistance and he told him to see an older gentleman inside the store about it, the man was nice enough to not only help us charge the battery but actually drive Michael to the store and back and offer him use of his tools. It took Michael a couple of hours to have us up and running, and we drove by the man’s place to say thank you again, and let him know we had fixed the car and were leaving but he was not home. Yes, he told us where he lived [behind the gas station by the motel] in case the kids and I needed anything while he and Michael were gone.

I was not thrilled about getting back on the road, actually, to be quite honest and extremely ridiculous, I felt a little betrayed by my car but while Louisiana was beautiful, I am glad that we didn’t allow fear to end the trip because everyone had fun in Florida and my kids were long overdue some quality time with that side of the family.

Here are something that I want everyone to know about scary moments like this one:

1. Don’t panic. Yes, you are human and you are scared but react,  find a way to keep you and your family as well as other drivers safe. There will be time to scream and cry later, you just have to survive the madness.
2. Get your loved us out of that car and away from it, that way if someone does hit the car the kids are as safe as you can have them at that time. The car is replaceable, the kids are not.
3. PLEASE, for the love of all that is Holy, get off your phones when you are driving and when you see cops or any car really, on the side of the road slow down. The officers were in as much danger out there as we were and they were just trying to do their jobs, there is nowhere you need to be, or anything on your phone that justifies you recklessly driving like a bat out of hell, especially when you see that there are cars and/or cops on the side of the road. Better late or unread than dead. Seriously.
4. Society tells us we live in a world full of selfish hateful people but I don’t believe that is the case. Yes, there are some bad apples out there but that does not speak for the vast majority of people. The cops involved did not need to assist as much as they did, the woman did not need to drive by the police station to make them aware of our situation, the men did not need to pull over and tow us off the bridge, the older man did not need to drive Michael to the store. No one had to do anything and yet everyone took the initiative to help. And I am so thankful that they did.
5. Flare emergency kits are affordable and should be accessible in a car when you are driving long distances, especially when its dark. Also, consider the clothes you wear when you are driving long distances, I believe that not just the flashlights but the light blue colored shirts we all had on helped, a lot.

As I put this out there, I hope and pray that everyone involved that night knows how grateful we are for them. I pray that God blesses each and every one of you every day. I pray to God for him to keep the officers safe. One of them was fairly new to the job, another was on the verge of retiring but with a son just 5 years into his career as a police officer. Everyone out there that night assisting us has a life of their own, a family to get home to and yet everyone went out of their way to make sure that my family & I made it home safe. Thank you, for all that you did for us that night. Even the smallest gesture was bigger than you know.

The most important lesson I took from this was, that God is always faithful. He did not promise us life would be easy, uneventful and free of hardships, He promised that we would not be alone, and we weren’t. Yes, many people helped but it was God’s hand on all of us that kept everyone safe on that bridge that night. I love my family but it wasn’t just our safety I was worried about, someone hitting our car could have been just as dangerous for them as it was for us or even another car driving by at that moment, there were so many things that could have gone wrong but they didn’t and in the end, it was all just a very important life lesson about resting peacefully on God’s love and faithfulness when everything seems at it’s worse for He will not fail you, He will not forsake you and He will never let you down.

-Naryamie

Some random pics from that night:

Proof of survival for a friend

An online picture I found of the bridge we were stranded on.

The motel