A potentially life saving hug from Marigold

In three years of commuting, I have never been stopped in traffic on the interstate. That is, until this week. It was a huge day, of course, starting with an 8:00 a.m. meeting, then a press conference, then another meeting, followed by another meeting. Due to the 8:00 a.m. meeting, I was on the road with Marley by 6:30 to get her to my mom's by 7:30 to get to my meeting at 8. You can see why I try to avoid Lincoln meetings before 9. Of course, as with all busy days and early mornings, I was running late.  In the midst of it all, just as I was trying to walk out the door, Marigold - in a silly and somewhat bossy way - asked for "one more" kiss and hug.  So I ran out the door two minutes later, with my usual four bags over my shoulder plus Marley, plus coffee. In any event, I had just crossed the river a little before 7 when I came upon the backup, which I later learned was due to an overturned semi. To make a long story short, I sat on the interstate for two hours.  That's right, two hours. The interstate was actually closed behind me and traffic was so bad that the alternate route on Hwy 6 was also at a standstill. I missed my 8 a.m. meeting and almost missed our own press conference. The two hours consistent of a mostly sleeping Marley and lots of calls and emails (what did we do before smart phones?). Just as we were finalizing plan B for the press conference, traffic started moving again. I had a feeling I was not far behind the semi, but it turned out I was only about a quarter of a mile back.  Had it not been for Marigold's extra hug, and the grace of God, my morning could have been much different.