Tonight's picture was taken in May of 2007. It was memorial day weekend and we took Mattie to Lancaster County, PA. On our way, we stopped off at a famous pretzel company. The company gave visitors dough and taught us how to form a pretzel. You can see Mattie's finished product. It was a fun weekend adventure, and I am so glad we never put off trips or activities until tomorrow. Because in our case, tomorrow NEVER came.
Quote of the day: I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ’Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. ~ Thomas Paine
Each day, I wake up and wonder.... what will today hold? What will the crisis be? So far NO DAY has disappointed me. I was able to drop my dad off at his memory care center. On the drive, I noticed a warning light went off on my dashboard. I got my dad to his program, and in the parking lot, I pulled out the car's manual to understand what this light meant. It was the check engine light! I immediately called my car dealership in hopes of scheduling an appointment. I left a message for my service provider and then went along with my chores. I had to get gas for the car and go grocery shopping.
After filling the car with gas, I tried starting the car. It wouldn't start. In addition to not starting, the car was rolling backward, and the only way to stop it was to shut the car off. When I tell you I began to panic, I am not kidding. Now my version of panicking my look different from others! As I don't get hysterical, I don't cry, or have any sort of outward emotion. All my anxiety is internal. Naturally my first instinct was to call my husband! That is what I have done for the last 35 years, as I know nothing about cars. Of course that is NO LONGER an option, as we have no contact with each other.
Since I was at a gas station, I could have asked them for help. But I decided that wasn't a good option, as I have a service warranty with my car company, and therefore this car had to get the dealership. So then my next thought was... how am I going to get the car there?! As luck would have it, the gas station and the dealership were practically next door to each other. I did not want to call AAA, because I had no patience waiting to be towed. Therefore, I rationalized with myself that I had to get this car started. I turned the ignition on three times. First two times, I rolled backwards and the car wouldn't start. On round three, the car started! It was at that point, I decided to risk it and get to the dealership. I had two ways to get out of the gas station, I chose the exit that did not require me to stop at a light. I frankly did not want to stop the car, because I figured if I stop, I may not be able to start again.
Any case, I rolled into the dealership and met Sam. He isn't my usual service provider, but he was excellent. He could see I was shaken and upset and that I was concerned that this was going to be an expensive fix. In my head my fear was something major was wrong with the engine. Sam told me that we needed to do a diagnostic and we would take it one step at a time. He couldn't give me a loaner car, but he arranged for one of the mechanics to drive me home. That's when I met Ruiz. Ruiz is 68 years old and a love. We started chatting. He has the same car I do, and told me that my car still has a lot of life in it. So I shouldn't be concerned that it has close to 100,000 miles on it. He says his car has 160,000 miles on it and is running strong. Then we talked about his brother who is gravely ill. I am sure he was looking at me, and evaluating me as being a person who doesn't have a care in the world. It was at that point that I explained about Mattie and then explained about my divorce. Literally by the time I finished with him, he was speechless. He couldn't get over what I have survived. He made me laugh, because he said..... husbands are replaceable, but you only get one set of parents. He commended me for choosing to be a caregiver. He said I would never regret that, which I know is correct, because I learned early on in life that I give 100% to those I love. I never want to live with regrets later on in life for not giving it my all.
Sam called me later in the day, and I learned the issue was with the purge valve, which is crucial for optimal engine performance. The good news was he checked with my service warranty, and they paid for half of the cost of the part. Truly this was the best news ever, because I worried all day.... how am I going to be paying for this?!
When I wonder, is God with me, today the answer was YES. I was fortunate because:
- My dad was NOT in the car with me when the car stopped working.
- I was not far from the car dealership.
- The car turned on long enough for me to get to the dealership.
- I met Ruiz.
- The car could easily be fixed!
- My service warranty paid for half of the invoice!
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