On a recent Thursday, my husband and I set out on a new adventure. After over 20 years, we moved east, way back east. The temperature had climbed to 118° a few days before in our soon-to-be former home, but we’d decided months ago.
With every inch of car space used, we started – with a detour to see our relatives for two days.
As we headed east, our adventure had begun. Early in the trip, there were mudslides, so we needed to reroute. Our tire symbol on the dashboard was lit up. After adding air in an unsheltered place while it poured, things seemed fine again, for about 10 minutes. Then the tire symbol was lit up again. On Labor Day, we were fortunate that a garage in Little America, Wyoming, willingly helped us. Quickly! We were on our way.
Traffic weaving in and out on the interstate highways, which were consistently crowded with drivers often hitting 90 mph and above, led to white-knuckle drives.
Two days after our tire trials, we had the strangest and scariest experience. Our car was waiting at a light for a turn, when it stopped dead. We started it, but the same experience happened that evening.
The next morning, my husband was the first in the queue at the dealer’s repair shop. The battery was very low. We hustled to Costco, since we had a guaranteed battery from them. All was well finally after another stop to find a bolt to hold the new battery in place.
Notice a pattern here? Unlike fictional characters who seem to have events happen in threes, the challenging issues kept coming and coming. My husband and I doubted our decision to move.
What kept me going in a positive direction included the people who stepped forward to help us along the way. The people in Little America, Wyoming, the friendly man who offered to jump start us when we were fussing with our battery, the friendly waitstaff who noticed I was fishing out tiny chunks of peppers from my soup and turned to her colleague and asked him to bring me a new bowl without the peppers.
There is kindness. There are people who will step forward unselfishly, to help without being asked. I think those people became more numerous as we were further east.
I’m feeling optimistic. Now, if someone just wants to purchase our home, with many upgrades and the largest yard in the vicinity, the other elements of our life can fall in place.
It reminds me of how John and Shannon, in Love at First Sight, have a run of fortuitous connections that make their lives better. Maybe everyone can smile a bit more and everyone will have better lives!
(Read the first 5 chapters of Love at First Sight, as my free gift to you, by signing in at my website, ShelleySommers.com and sharing your email. You’ll receive a link so you can read those chapters immediately. I hope you enjoy them. More books coming soon!)