Silent Miracles
I don't necessarily believe in miracles, at least not in the classic sense of the term. I've never been accosted by a burning bush, the red sea has never parted for me, and when I take the role of David, Goliath usually kicks my ass. I won't say I haven't had my share of good luck in this lifetime, but I can't attribute much of it to miracles.
Last January, one of our friends gave dana and me a car. An old car, to be sure, but a car nonetheless. Since my driving experience is fairly limited, this was a great boon. Our current car was a manual, and I don't drive manual. This was an automatic. Thus when dana went into the hospital for surgery and she couldn't drive for six weeks, I was able to take up the slack. Driving on the left side of the street is still really odd, but I got used to it and the new car (I use the term loosely, both of the cars are old enough to vote) seemed a lot more powerful.
Yesterday, we took the car in for an overhaul, just to have it checked it, before we took a long drive up to the north side of the island. The list of what was wrong with it was was a third of a page long. The car was deemed unsafe, and had been unsafe for some time. We'd driven around in that car for two months. A car with failing brakes and steering, among other things. The mechanic who worked on it said it was a death trap and wasn't drivable, fixable or resellable. When he learned we'd been driving it around for two months, he said we were extremely lucky. He also said, it wouldn't have made it up to the trip north.
My initial impulse was to be depressed. I was stranded again, unless I sat down and learned to drive a manual (which after my back surgery, might be possible, now that I'm healed). But aside from that, we had a car when we needed it, for as long as we needed it, and during that time that we drove it around, and we did use it quite a lot, somehow, the car held up. We survived. We were lucky.
Was it a miracle that brought this car into our lives just when we needed it and took it out again before we died for the convenience? I guess I'll never know.
But I will say, I feel damned lucky to be alive.
Last January, one of our friends gave dana and me a car. An old car, to be sure, but a car nonetheless. Since my driving experience is fairly limited, this was a great boon. Our current car was a manual, and I don't drive manual. This was an automatic. Thus when dana went into the hospital for surgery and she couldn't drive for six weeks, I was able to take up the slack. Driving on the left side of the street is still really odd, but I got used to it and the new car (I use the term loosely, both of the cars are old enough to vote) seemed a lot more powerful.
Yesterday, we took the car in for an overhaul, just to have it checked it, before we took a long drive up to the north side of the island. The list of what was wrong with it was was a third of a page long. The car was deemed unsafe, and had been unsafe for some time. We'd driven around in that car for two months. A car with failing brakes and steering, among other things. The mechanic who worked on it said it was a death trap and wasn't drivable, fixable or resellable. When he learned we'd been driving it around for two months, he said we were extremely lucky. He also said, it wouldn't have made it up to the trip north.
My initial impulse was to be depressed. I was stranded again, unless I sat down and learned to drive a manual (which after my back surgery, might be possible, now that I'm healed). But aside from that, we had a car when we needed it, for as long as we needed it, and during that time that we drove it around, and we did use it quite a lot, somehow, the car held up. We survived. We were lucky.
Was it a miracle that brought this car into our lives just when we needed it and took it out again before we died for the convenience? I guess I'll never know.
But I will say, I feel damned lucky to be alive.
posted by Steve_Lazarowitz at 11:50 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home