All I wanted to do was pick up my daughter’s birthday cake. Instead, my car was totaled.

I was heading north on Third Street in Geneva on Wednesday, proceeding through the intersection at James Street, when I was blindsided by someone attempting a right turn onto Third. Someone who never stopped at the stop sign. I didn’t have one, and never even saw her coming. I just felt the impact. My first thought, as I felt my head jerk from side to side and my car slide out of control was, this is gonna suck. My second? How will I get Holly’s cake?

“It’s all my fault. I didn’t even look to my left,” the other driver volunteered, as soon as we scrambled from our cars. “I just looked to the right, where I was turning,” she added, clearly shaken.