It’s 3 am on a Friday morning do you know where your husband Is? I do- mine is on the side of route 83 in a precarious position while a tow truck hauls away the piece of shit that has left him stranded yet again. He dials and by some miracle I feel the silent vibrations and wake to answer his call.
My heart drops as it always does when I hear the phone in the middle of the night
"You gotta come pick me up - my truck died and the trailer (holding thousands of dollars of bread) is dropped and jutting out into the lane of 83 south." One of the most dangerous highways in PA, he begins firing off instructions like bullets from a gun..."you have to bring the red truck," "you will need the pliers to turn the lights on," "the gear shift indicator is broken so you have to count it down from park"...
Still stunned from the first sentence I struggle to fully understand—
And I thought shit in the basement was a big deal.
I am terrified to drive the truck but I sick up my guts and get it done.
The streets are dead quiet at this hour of night save for a random car and tractor trailer or two. Negative thoughts scroll through my brain like the ticker at the bottom of ESPN playing all the old favorites - what if the truck can’t be repaired...what if he gets hit by a tractor trailer on 83... what if....
But I stop myself - I remember my own words and I put anxiety on the bench.
No better time than the present to start finding the blessings in the mess...
You see we have been blessed with an amazing neighbor who has allowed us to use his old pick up truck to haul the trailer while our truck was in the shop. This act of kindness enabled my love to run his route and bring home the proverbial bacon. This saintly neighbor said, "keep the keys and use it whenever you need it." Who does that? This guy. God bless him. God blessed us.
And further favors abound.
The fact that the breakdown happened in the wee hours meant that my love was safe from the crazy morning rush hour traffic that could have caused a major accident. Blessing 1.
The fact that the tow driver was kind enough to use his truck to block the lane to keep him safe from the tractor trailers that rounded the bend at 80 miles per hour. Blessing 2.
The fact that the breakdown occurred 20 minutes from our house instead of an hour. Blessing 3.
The fact that I heard my phone in the first place. Blessing 4.
I could go on and on...
We count these blessings as I drive him home. Trailer in tow. The clock reads 4:15 am He’ll drop me off to our cozy little house with our safely sleeping kids and with a quick kiss he’ll be gone again. Back to deliver the bread and bring home the bacon to our somewhat shitty, superbly blessed, semi-charmed kind of life.
Things could be better but they could surely be worse...
❤️
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