Perspective
I would have liked to have driven my Yukon to girls camp as it seated more girls and has 100K less miles than the truck but the air conditioning went out on Friday before camp (after I just had it fixed) and I wasn't about to drive two hours into the Arizona desert without AC. I begrudgingly drove my pickup truck.
Unfortunately, on the way home from girls camp the truck died on me as I was going up a hill. We got my trailer hitched up to another truck and got the girls into other vehicles to go home. I rode most of the way home where I met Ben who was driving our Yukon and a flat bed trailer to tow the truck home with. I turned around with him and we went back to get it. So I still got to drive a few hours without AC in our lovely desert. Lucky me.
Yesterday I finally had a chance to drive the Yukon into the dealer to have it looked at since they had just fixed it a few days prior to it breaking again. As the mechanic opened the hood he realized the serpentine belt was misaligned. "You are lucky you made it in here on that belt!" he stated and I got sick to my stomach when I could see where it was fraying. I don't know much about cars, but I know the serpentine belt is pretty much the most important belt in a car. "OK," I said and waited for more bad news, "I'm just going to let you look at it and call my husband when you know something more." I left quickly.
Ben texted me about 30 minutes later to tell me that we had blown the engine on the truck and the cost to fix it would be significant. I was defeated. Two cars dead in one week? I trudged through my shopping trip, only getting about half the items on my list. I was too upset to care. If I had a blown engine on the Yukon as well as the truck, we were sunk.
When we arrived home I went upstairs and laid on my bed. I wanted to cry and scream but I felt numb. I just laid there until I fell asleep. I woke up to the sound of Ben coming home from coaching football as he gathered us for Family Home Evening.
We started our meeting as usual and then when it came to the lesson Ben told us the story of his afternoon. "When I got the news about the truck and the Yukon, I didn't know how I was going to tell Mom and Drew (the truck is essentially his to drive). I knew they were going to be upset. At football practice I screamed at the boys until I realized I was letting my anger and frustration out on them and at that point I became unusually quiet. My other Coach was unusually quiet as well and approached me as we were walking to the field. I was about to tell him about my crummy afternoon when he started to speak, "Coach, I can tell you aren't having a good afternoon but I have some bad news to tell you. My cancer is back and I will have to do chemo throughout the season. (He undergoes chemo in the off season and has endured this for many years.) Suddenly I forgot I even had car problems."
As Ben was telling us this, he was very close to tears. He loves this coach. Ben realized at that instant that our car problems were nothing. Our thoughts turned to our beloved coach and his sweet wife and all they have endured in their lifetime together.
Perspective is a funny word. In one moment everything changed and my problems seemed insignificant. I decided to count my blessings and they are many. We all have our health. We have an income, we have the most awesome kids and extended family. Life really is good.
And, the truth is that we made it through the last two weeks making several trips an hour north to basketball games carrying most of the team in our Yukon, how tragic it would have been for it to have died en route to our many activities.
Post Note:
They called about the Yukon and the dealer said it was their error that they didn't check the alignment of the serpentine belt so we only had to replace that belt and an AC belt, they covered all labor costs. Then later, our friend and neighbor called as we were driving to get the Yukon to tell us his friend could put in a new engine for about $1000 less than anticipated. That is some good news. We are blessed.
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| Towing the truck home |
Yesterday I finally had a chance to drive the Yukon into the dealer to have it looked at since they had just fixed it a few days prior to it breaking again. As the mechanic opened the hood he realized the serpentine belt was misaligned. "You are lucky you made it in here on that belt!" he stated and I got sick to my stomach when I could see where it was fraying. I don't know much about cars, but I know the serpentine belt is pretty much the most important belt in a car. "OK," I said and waited for more bad news, "I'm just going to let you look at it and call my husband when you know something more." I left quickly.
Ben texted me about 30 minutes later to tell me that we had blown the engine on the truck and the cost to fix it would be significant. I was defeated. Two cars dead in one week? I trudged through my shopping trip, only getting about half the items on my list. I was too upset to care. If I had a blown engine on the Yukon as well as the truck, we were sunk.
When we arrived home I went upstairs and laid on my bed. I wanted to cry and scream but I felt numb. I just laid there until I fell asleep. I woke up to the sound of Ben coming home from coaching football as he gathered us for Family Home Evening.
We started our meeting as usual and then when it came to the lesson Ben told us the story of his afternoon. "When I got the news about the truck and the Yukon, I didn't know how I was going to tell Mom and Drew (the truck is essentially his to drive). I knew they were going to be upset. At football practice I screamed at the boys until I realized I was letting my anger and frustration out on them and at that point I became unusually quiet. My other Coach was unusually quiet as well and approached me as we were walking to the field. I was about to tell him about my crummy afternoon when he started to speak, "Coach, I can tell you aren't having a good afternoon but I have some bad news to tell you. My cancer is back and I will have to do chemo throughout the season. (He undergoes chemo in the off season and has endured this for many years.) Suddenly I forgot I even had car problems."
As Ben was telling us this, he was very close to tears. He loves this coach. Ben realized at that instant that our car problems were nothing. Our thoughts turned to our beloved coach and his sweet wife and all they have endured in their lifetime together.
Perspective is a funny word. In one moment everything changed and my problems seemed insignificant. I decided to count my blessings and they are many. We all have our health. We have an income, we have the most awesome kids and extended family. Life really is good.
And, the truth is that we made it through the last two weeks making several trips an hour north to basketball games carrying most of the team in our Yukon, how tragic it would have been for it to have died en route to our many activities.
Post Note:
They called about the Yukon and the dealer said it was their error that they didn't check the alignment of the serpentine belt so we only had to replace that belt and an AC belt, they covered all labor costs. Then later, our friend and neighbor called as we were driving to get the Yukon to tell us his friend could put in a new engine for about $1000 less than anticipated. That is some good news. We are blessed.
Always someone who has trials you don't want. Always. Good to be reminded now and then.
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