I knew something was up a few days ago when our car jolted a bit at the green light. Whatever little fire it might have been had yet to reach blaze status… so I ignored it. Until last night when my friend Missy yelled as I was pulling away from a meeting,

“Kay! You’ve got a flat!”

Sure enough, a nail was embedded in my tire. But it was late. Jon was out of town. NTB was closed. I figured I could make one more trip to and from schools in the morning on the deflated, but not blown tire. Which I did this morning.

I couldn’t believe it because just last week, my niece had a similar experience. Her’s, however was blown. And her timing happened to be in a torrential downpour in a not so safe part of town at night. Here’s her story:

So, I just finished looking at Melissa Roberson’s apartment, which is near the south end of White Rock Lake, an unfamiliar area to me. The rain is coming down in buckets, and she kindly takes me out to my car with an umbrella. Little did we know that we’d both be drenched within the next half an hour. The umbrella was a nice thought though.

So, I’m driving along trying to see through the pouring rain, when all of a sudden a funny sound starts mingling with the storm outside. I keep driving. But then it seems my car is shaking.

Thoughts run from “oh, it’s just the silly road” to “oh my gosh, did my car get struck by lightning and now the electrical something is making it convulse?” I keep driving, hoping it will just go away. It doesn’t, and so I finally pull off the road and park under the lights of an old flower shop. I get out and circle my car, and there it is: my front passenger tire in smithereens. Literally. “Oh shoot, I’ve never done this before. I think there’s a jack-something in my trunk and a spare tire. Oh boy, this could be a long night.”

I call Melissa, and her answer was, “Bummer. Well, okay. I’ll be there in 10 minutes. And don’t worry, I’ve done this before.” I’m hopeful. I’m actually amazed that I’m not crying and frustrated; it’s always encouraging to realize you are growing up. 

So Melissa pulls up in her big truck, with her dog Dimitri sitting next to her. She jumps out, ties him up nearby, and basically helps me change my tire in literally 15 minutes. I mean, we are seriously laughing as we both look like drowned rats fiddling with a crazy tire in the middle of a lightning storm…but she’s explaining how you put the jack on the metal part under your car, and not just under the car itself (having learned that from experience). She also explained how her Dad made her change all four tires before she was on her own, meanwhile I’m just getting the hang of turning the jack. This missionary kid could learn a lot from someone like Melissa. It also made me very thankful for the Dad I have who put the jack, wrench, spare tire, and flashlight in my trunk. The flashlight didn’t work, but again- that was my fault for not being prepared for something like a blown-out tire in the dark. 

Don’t you love it! A new hurdle to place along our kids’ road. A changing tire hurdle that needs to be cleared before they head out of our home. Though I’ve helped change a tire, I’m not confident about placing a jack. I could have used a little intense tire training this morning.

Thanks for walking the road with me.

-Kay

What did your folks do that has helped you along the way?