FlatTire #2
Summers can be crazy and wonderful. Then you get Flat Tire #2. Summers are a wonderful time to reconnect with family and friends, enjoy longer days and leaisure time at the lake or cabin. Ours got crazy with a backed up septic system at the cabin and then Flat Tire #2.
We had a wonderful family wedding in Sicily. The kids did all the planning. The following weekend we drove to St. Louis for a religious celebration for our daughter-in-law and the weekend after that gathered at the cabin with family and friends. Ugh! Our septic system had backed up — big time.
Every Summer Must Have a Little Drama
Tom: After several 100-mile trips back to the cabin with plumbers I was ready to return home when I noticed a flat tire on my truck. I replaced it and threw a second spare into the truck bed. I was homeward bound when I had flat tire #2 and the rim on the tire I had thrown in the back didn’t fit. Yes, it had the correct number of lug nuts. Just me and my dog, on a lonely, seldom traveled road, at 0-dark-30 in cell-dead Wyoming.
7 Lessons Learned:
Expect a Little Drama
#1. Even the best summer can get clobbered with a little drama.
#2. There is no good time for backed up sewage. **it happens!
#3. Build trust in your marriage. Learn your spouse’s Love Language and use it frequently. Think of it as a second spare tire — one that fits.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
#4. I flagged down the first and only vehicle on the road. Sometimes it is easier to ask a stranger for help than your spouse. Practice asking for help before you are desperate. The stranger, a retired EMT and country musician kindly put his Glock in the console so I coud sit in the front seat and let my dog have the backseat of his truck.
Phone Home
#5. The passerby was helping trail cattle with his brother and gave me a lift to the ranch where I called MF. It was the first thing I did. Phone Home. Let your spouse know what you are up against.
#6. End those phone calls with ” I love you.” It shows you care and puts even strangers at ease. We were able to repair the spare and I was back on the road.
Pray and Pay It Forward
#7. Most importantly, when in a tough spot “Pray to Fr. Ed’s Angels.” They never fail. Many years ago, Fr. Ed was with us on that same back country road when we had flat #3 without a third spare. We prayed with Fr. Ed’ to his Angels and they came through — a stranger in a white pickup truck with a spare that fit. Strangers treat strangers as friends. Pay it forward.
Flat Tire Rewards
After changing two spares in the Red Wall Country, I was covered with red dirt. MF hugged me anyway and suggested I shower before we got into bed. Among other things, she promised me a new set of tires not for Christmas but before the next trip. Hoping your summer drama has a safe and happy ending and your spare tires always fit!
