EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY NOW

I Love You

Bruce always answered the phone, and usually it was a junk call during dinner. I called him for directions when I got lost driving somewhere I’d never been. I can remember the feeling that “everything will be okay now” as soon as I heard his voice.

One Friday night, I drove to the bowling lanes with a dozen deviled eggs on a platter on the backseat. It had been snowing for a while when the Jeep slid into oncoming traffic and then back into my lane where it continued sliding off the other side of my lane, down an embankment mowing down a small tree and coming to a gentle stop just before it would have collided with a very large tree. Wide-eyed, I said, “thank you,” and turned off the ignition. The platter of deviled eggs was still on the backseat.

Now, the car could not be seen from the road. I found my phone and called the police. Then I called Bruce. No answer. When someone tapped on my window I almost screamed. The snow had become a wintry mix and seeing a face smeared with rain and snow through glass in the dark was unnerving. He had been driving the car behind me and watched everything happen in seeming slow motion. He too had called the police.

I invited the stranger into my car and offered him deviled eggs. It all sounds so surreal writing this now. He refused the eggs. The police said there had been a lot of accidents, and it would be a while before a tow truck could get to me.

The stranger stayed with me until the tow truck arrived. There were so many angels looking after me that night. Someone teased me that I may have to pay for the tree which I’m sure was placed in my path to slow the momentum of the car. I am blessed.

ART: “Hope” 2021-2024