Part of my ongoing series of uplifting stories....
Sometimes I Get a
Good Feeling …..
Last fall, I started having problems
with my then 11 year old car. First, the
driver’s side door refused to open from the inside. Just as I was going to try to have it fixed,
my oil started to leak and I needed a new gasket. Then, I had to replace the transmission
fluid lines and subsequently the transmission. Next the other car needed costly
repairs as well. Every time I got the
budget to a point where I could even think about having the door fixed,
something else broke that took priority including a couple of months ago, when
out of the blue, what looked like a clear piece of tile that came from who
knows where shattered the back windshield as I was stopped at a red light.
So in order to get out of the car, I had
to have the engine running, open the window, stick my arm out and open the door
from the outside, hold the door open with my knee, close the window and turn
off the engine. It was a pain but not a
priority.
Since I am still paying off all the
other car repairs and a new list of things need to be repaired as well, I had
resigned myself to having to go through this long ritual to get out of my
car. The day of the Secretary of State
saga with my mom, I was complaining to one of my little sisters that it was
getting dangerous because our mom wouldn’t wait for me to get out and help her
and I was afraid that she would fall or get hit by a car before I managed to
get out and around the car to assist her.
My sister (who had just had 2 separate
incidents of her new car being hit while it was parked) said that she would ask
the body shop that fixed her car if they could fix my door for me. She asked and they said that they could but
they were very busy and shorthanded as well.
This Wednesday, they took my door apart and after checking everything,
found that it was just the inside door handle that was bad. They ordered the handle and put my door back
together and had me drop my car off yesterday morning. When they called that it was ready, they told
me that they were only charging me for the part and not for the labor as we had
told them that I am the main one who drives our parents to their doctor’s
appointments, etc. This is a godsend for me at this time. I can’t thank them enough. The body shop owner said that he hopes when
he needs an act of kindness, someone will be there for him. I am sure someone will. What goes around come around as the saying
goes.
I
still have more issues with the car (ignition coil, electrical problems, etc.)
but this has taken one big one off my plate as I can now get out of the car and
to my mom’s side before she can get out and try to take off on her own.
Sometimes
I get a good feeling….
