However, today (October 13th) marks the end of a seemingly long and drawn out ordeal to replace a mere material thing with another...and, man, do I feel better!
On September 26th, this happened...
I was on the way home from my parents' house. They had watched my sweet kids overnight, and I had just picked them up. Long story short, a guy coming the opposite direction as us failed to yield, and our van (aka Silver Bullet) was toast.
That whole thing was terrifying. I didn't even really see him coming until we collided. Better in a lot of ways, I suppose...I wasn't too tense, so wasn't terribly injured...and I didn't turn the car. Thank goodness I didn't turn the car; if I had swerved to avoid him, he still would have hit us only, instead of hitting me, he would have hit one of my babies. I don't think I could have ever forgiven myself.
But, we were so lucky. Other than being traumatized, the kids were alright. I was bruised and had whiplash, but it could have been SO much worse; I'm still shocked that it wasn't.
Fast forward to today, past DOZENS of insurance calls, emails, explanations, trips, favors, generous friends and family, and prayers, and we have found a van to replace our previous one.
I woke up this morning, to my sweet son moving around in my bed. Since he saw part of a scary movie on Friday, he has been ending up in our bed before dawn each day. Shortly after I was woken up, I received a text message from my dad, offering me a ride to the car dealership that had the van I wanted, if I could get someone to watch the kids.
My sweet friend agreed to watch my babies, I dropped them off, and went to the bank where the insurance checks had been issued from to get them cashed. Only, that bank wasn't open. I went to the next nearest branch where, apparently, everyone and their cousin had gone to do business after Columbus Day. I waited forever in line, only to be told that they didn't have enough cash to accommodate my request. I had to call Dad, and tell him that there were set backs, and that he might need to get on with his day, so I didn't set him too far behind.
Luckily, I was able to meet him at my house and get a quick hug before continuing with all the fun drama that still lay before me.
I called ahead to another branch of the bank, and they assured me that they had enough funds to cash my checks. I went there, cashed my checks, and then hurried awkwardly to my own bank, so that I could get a cashier's check for the purchase of our new vehicle. I could not hand the envelope over to the teller fast enough - I was a nervous wreck!
On my way to the bank, I was fortunate enough to have a friend be able to join me on the drive to get the new van! It was a huge blessing to us both...we were able to get to spend time together, as well as get my car!
We made it to the dealership, met Albert, and checked out the van. It looked pretty good, was a year newer than our previous van, had almost 15,000 less miles on it than ours did, and had power doors. Oh, and it was a pretty blue color, too! Took it for a test drive, and everything worked great. Went in to sign the papers, handed Albert the check, and he says, "Umm, the bank didn't sign the check. I've never seen that before."
I said, "What does that mean? It's not valid?"
And, he said, "Yeah, I'm afraid so."
Before I even had a chance to start freaking out, he said, "You know? It's close enough to lunch time...how about I follow you back to the branch, you can get the check authorized, give it to me, and then I'll grab lunch and head back to work."
Did I mention that his dealership is in South Austin, and the branch I went to was in Round Rock?
Freaking awesome. Austin Elite Motors, everyone. Albert completely created a new caliber of car salesman to me.
Did I mention that I had initially contacted him about a car on their lot that had already sold? I was SO BUMMED that it sold. But, the very next day, Albert called me to see if I was still in the market for a car, and he said that he had one coming in that next week. He stayed in touch with me, kept me updated, and was willing to work with my schedule so that we could get a car and get our family back to "normal."
Again, I know that a van or car is just a material thing, but the way we got this van, and all the steps involved in it...while incredibly frustrating and stressful...seemed to all work together in the best possible way.
I owe it all to my friends and family, who were so supportive, prayed for us, offered us help, and allowed me to process everything we encountered.
So, thank you...from the bottom of my heart.
And, here we go, a new beginning:
I named her Blue Bird.
Probably because of this song
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