Road Trip
/I moved to the Washington DC Metro Area, also known as the DMV (DC, Maryland, and Virginia) after undergrad. In NY, DMV means Department of Motor Vehicles, therefore, I prefer the former. My sister Nicolle was living there, and it seemed like a good option. My first winter, I quickly learned that I was “not in Kansas anymore.”
In Upstate NY, plows are sanding/ salting the road before snow falls and vigilantly plowed until the snow stopped. Unless it was a ridiculous amount of snow at one time, most major roads remained passable throughout the snow fall. I know how to drive on treated roads in snow. Fast forward to my first attempt at driving in a dusting in Maryland. I slid on icy roads that had not been pretreated by sand or salt and certainly not plowed. While I trusted my ability to navigate my enviroment. There were cars scattered on the sides of the road with obvious damage consistent with collisions and car pile ups with police presence. I quickly returned back home. I was very clear that this was no place to drive in the snow. Even a small dusting can gridlock the whole area.
On a winter day of 2014, there was fresh snow covering on the ground, and school was canceled. Per usual on a snow day, the roads were unplowed and untreated, but I now work in emergency medicine and as essential personnel at the hospital, staying at home was not an option. I had a standing snow day contingency plan to take the girls to the Humphrey’s home.
We all piled into our 4-wheel drive SUV. Each of the girls were secured in their car seats, and we headed on our way. I was on a low speed road that was peppered with round abouts and stop lights. The next light as I turned the corner turned yellow. As I applied my brakes, it became clear that I was not stopping anytime soon. Appyling the brakes did not slow the vehicle as all. In fact, I was gaining momentum, because I was on a slow gradual descent. There was one car at the light adjacent to my right. I beeped my horn and flashed my lights frantically to catch his attention. As I slid in slow motion, I was trying to pump the brakes back to life, yelling, waving, beeping and flashing lights. There were only two of us on the road on this cold wintry snow-covered morning. If he stayed at his light and heeded my warning, I would have cleared the intersection. However, my then yellow light was now red. His light turned green and he proceeded forward. His truck moved slowly across the two eastbound lanes. Unbeknownst to him, he drove directly into the path of my SUV.
Getting around him could have ended me in a ditch, into the median or the west bound lanes. I did not see any good options. In that moment, I did my best to minimize the collision. I took a hard left and took the hit on my car’s passenger side. No airbags deployed. He was driving a large heavy-duty truck. No dents. No damage. As we exchanged information, I saw that it was his birthday! Yikes!
Jill, Autumn, judy, and tara came to visit me. go ‘gate
My car was undriveable. The passenger front wheel was maligned. The girls were quickly retrieved by the Humphrey’s and I stayed with the car until our family friends, the Schneider’s arrived. I know I drove away from the accident in one of the Schneider’s cars. I think I continued to work.
Apparently, in addition to the passenger front wheel damage, I also knocked out the SUV’s automatic air suspension and it required that the vehicle be totaled out. Suddenly, I was in the market for a new vehicle. My friends and former volleyball teammates from Colgate Jill, Judy and Tara and from Colgate were coming to visit. It was perfect timing to go car shopping.
Ironically, a few months prior to the accident, Antonio had passed away and I had more cars that I needed. We had a sedan and an SUV. Both had car notes, I had to sell one. I chose to keep the SUV as my primary vehicle since I needed the four-wheel drive and sold the other. No sooner than that happened, I totaled out the SUV.
I then bought my first ever brand-new vehicle, because it was priced better than a used vehicle. I chose a 7-seater SUV so I could have room for playdates and such. Little did I know that I would assume care of two additional children in the near future. Look at God!
Our car has been excellent! It has been as far west as Little Rock, Arkansas and St Louis, MO. Our car has been as far south as Atlanta, GA and as far north as Massachusetts. Our most frequent trips have been east to the Atlantic Ocean: Jersey Shore, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina beaches. Cold and Hot weather alike. It is 10 years and 317,000+ miles later. Thank you, Lord.
This week I took the day off to take three of four children to the eye doctor. On the way back home, we stopped for gas. The person in front of me noticed coolant pooling out of my car. Pulling into the gas station the air conditioning started acting funny so that made sense. I have driven a car cross country in a car with a busted radiator that needed frequent refill of coolant. Perhaps it was a leak, but I think the car was burning it up. That is a story for another day. Based on that experience, I thought it was just going to be a hot ride home. I did not forsee my car starting to buck and smoke rising from the hood. We pulled over just as we were taking the exit ramp onto Interstate 95 and came to rest in a patch of shade.
I was a bit irritated not to mention hot! Additionally, I had all my children with me. What a mess, but they get to see me work out problems in real time! Our first call was to God. I invited Him into our situation. Then I called roadside assistance and transportation for the children. It didn’t take long to start sweating. It was 100 degrees, high humidity, and we were sitting in a car without air conditioning. Thankfully, there was a breeze.
Despite the breeze, each of us was pouring sweat. I asked each child to look around them and clean up like they were not coming back. After the children were on their way home, I continued to clean out the car. I quickly drenched my clothes in the heat. Still, I made the decision to rejoice. I started to write out my gratitude for Patty, our SUV, and the flood of memories led me to writing this post.
““Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.””
The car was towed to the dealership and I went home. The tow driver was kind and amazing. If I had to be in this situation, Mojo was the right tow truck driver to help!
I find myself in a number of situations that I don’t understand, but I am learning to trust God and his infinite wisdom because I have welcomed Him into my situation(s) with prayer. He says all I have to do is ask and trust. I trust that He will lead me to the right resources. I have tried to do it in my own might for too long. He promises that He is able to immeasurably more than I can ask or imagine. Yes please, I want that!
“Now to Him who is able to immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us. ”
““Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.””
“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours”
The possibilities are endless. She is learning to hear from God. She knows that He has a plan and a purpose for her life. She has persevered through many things and her story of overcoming with help others.