I was running through my mid-afternoon daily routine of picking up the kids – later than normal.
It was Monday, and my kids stayed after that day for clubs.
I picked up just one of my boys, and we were on our way home. Boring, the same old traffic routine.
Just taking it nice and slow. Middle lane all the way down the Gatlin.
Crossing the last big intersection before the thin, windy road that leads to home, it happened.
Thud, thud, thud as the tires turned.
I knew exactly what it was this time! (The same freaking thing happened to me just a few short months ago.)
My initial response was to go to the tire place close to my house. I called; it was less than 1 mile down the road, and he could take me right in.
But then on second thought, I usually purchase my tires at the place over by the interstate. My other two tires were from there; I should just go to the same place. So I made the decision to drive down the business road in town, hoping to make it 3 miles to the tire shop.
The pressure was on… literally.
As I was waiting to cross back over the first intersection, I was still holding the pressure just fine. But damn, that light took a long time, and toward the end, there it went – 28 tire pressure. Got to the other side of the intersection, 27, 26, 25.
Oh crap. Instant panic.
Lower and lower the tire pressure crept until it no longer showed the pressure and started flashing ALL the alerts.
5 minutes later, [INSTANT RELIEF] we made it!
Anyway, long story short, it was 5 pm, they closed at 6. Come 5:50 pm, we were still just sitting there, and so was the flat tire on the car.
So I went up and asked a different guy if he could please help do something about it.
Anyways… this is when it happened…
His sweet fiancée and his 4-year-old (guessing) son were sitting there right by the desk.
I would have never realized her.
Just a regular mom sitting there with her kid.
While he was outside putting the spare tire on the car, we ended up striking up a conversation with her.
She was Mom first, of course.
She talked about her engagement to the guy fixing the flat.
She talked about being with her son all day.
She talked about how they only had one car, and that is why she sits there every single day waiting for him to finish up at the tire shop so they could go home.
She talked about how they lived with his grandparents, all 3 of them in one bedroom.
And then finally, she started talking about how she was going back to school.
She wanted to help with the family finances so that they could get more out of this life experience.
A place of their own, maybe a second car.
I was just dumbfounded.
She was taking online classes at night to become a psychologist.
The exact path my boy, who was with me, wants to take in life.
They high-fived.
Slowly but surely, she was making change happen for her family.
What an amazing girl!
I was so proud of her.
But then I realized…
This girl was quite literally telling the story of our past life… just a few short years ago.
They always say (who is ‘they’?) you are your own avatar… different versions of you from in the past.
There I was. Hello, past Trish.
I had looked into going to school once or twice, but the college school environment just wasn’t meant to be for me.
Making good money from home, and supporting your family is so much easier than doing so many years in college.
I’m definitely a life testimony to that.
Anyway, after wishing them well, we drove away from the tire shop that night, my head just spinning.
My boy who was with me that day had no idea the impact this girl had on me.
I was so inspired by her!
and so inspired and grateful for past versions of me that I had long forgotten about.
***
What inspired you this week?
