If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes

Driving to work this morning I pull up to a red light, stopping a reasonable distance from the small, tired pickup truck in front of me. These trucks are very common in my region of the country. They are really old farm trucks that are rusting on their rust. Just as my car comes to a stop the truck falls on the ground. How can this happen you ask? Well, I’m not sure myself, but to the best of my descriptive ability, that’s exactly what happened. The shocks or suspension thingy, again not an expert opinion, gave way and all the sudden the back bed of the pickup truck slammed down and was laying in the street, the bumper making a few sparks as it landed. Perhaps the truck has had a hard life and hauled a few too many loads? Helped a few too many people move? Needed a Prozac oil pick-me-up? Who knows, but the entire bed / back end of the truck crashed to the ground.

Since this happened at the exact moment I pulled up, the man driving assumed I had rear-ended him. He puts on the hazards and leaps out of the truck loaded for bear. I can see the anger in his eyes and he is headed straight for me except on the way from his drivers door to mine, he also can’t help but notice that the back of his truck is now laying in the street. As he reaches the back of the truck the look on his face goes from anger and indignation to surprise then to bewilderment and shock and finally to genuine sadness. At this point I felt sorry for him. He had obviously had this truck a long time and developed a relationship with it. He just kept looking from the ground to the truck, which wasn’t a great distance at this point. Shaking his head he went to the back tires and looked then came back to the rear of the truck.

The light changed and needless to say this truck wasn’t moving, however I had to make my way along to work. I manoeuvred around the jalopy and last I saw the guy was on the phone presumably calling for help. Or possibly to relay the unbelievable events of the past few minutes to a friend, who presumably was just as amazed as I was.

The point of sharing this story is that I can totally relate to the truck. There are just some days when I just want to say “I’m done!” and then plop down wherever I happen to be at the moment and give up. But then I turn my eyes heavenward and say a little prayer in my heart and I am lifted up and given the strength to keep on going. Now you know what is going through my mind and will probably be there for the rest of the day?

You know that scene in “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” where Kris meets the Winter Warlock and they sing “Just put one foot in front of the other and soon you’ll be walking out the door.” Now you’re singing it too. You’re welcome!