Ditches and Dancing

Friday was definitely a day filled with highs and lows. Thankfully, it was followed by the weekend affording me some much needed time to relax and regroup. Of course, I'm not sure how much relaxing was actually accomplished, but I digress and that will be the topic of a future blog.

Friday morning was spent frantically trying to get everything organized and ready for the luncheon. Robby stayed home from school so that he could attend and "help" us with the event. Since he only has three more days of school left, I didn't see the harm in allowing him to skip class for the day. Besides, seeing what his Daddy does for a living is just as educational as sitting in a classroom.

With the car loaded with lasagna, rolls, and cookies, we headed into Scott's school. With help and the use of several carts, everything was transported into the cafeteria, and within 30 minutes we were set up, decorated and ready for the students.

This is the 8th year that we have hosted this event, and I have to admit, I think that this was our best yet. Everybody enjoyed the food, the student's accomplishments were celebrated, and everybody left with a fully belly and a smile on their face. Before I knew it, we were packing up to head home, highly satisfied with a wildly successful luncheon.

I had promised Robby that we would pick up his friend Rowan from school and go to the local bounce house. Both he and Rowan were excited about spending a Friday afternoon hopping and playing. I was eager to watch him become tired, hopeful that it would translate into an early bedtime. As soon as I had the car unpacked, it was time to go pick up Rowan. By this point in the afternoon, I was beginning to lose steam.

Driving on autopilot, I had already gone a few miles when I realized I was not headed towards her school. With time ticking away, I began to look for a place to turn around. I saw a side street and decided to take it, hoping that I would be able to turn around.

I knew I was driving slowly, so when I saw a car quickly approaching in my rear view mirror, I pulled to the side of the road to allow him to pass. Unfortunately I pulled over too far! Within seconds, I was stuck in a ditch with the right tires covered to the top with mud. I tried to back up and rock my car out, but I only managed to dig myself deeper into the ditch. There was no doubt: I was stuck and wasn't going to be going anywhere. I desperately needed help.

I called Scott who had already made it home. I explained where I was and that I needed him to come right away because Rowan was expecting me to pick her up at school in 10 minutes! After I hung up with him, I called Mr. Bill whom I knew had a strong truck and a lot of mechanical experience. I love that I could call both men for help and that they both dropped everything to come, no questions asked.

I sat on the side of the road and realized that the SUV was profoundly leaning. I knew the vehicle was losing the battle with the soft mud and that I needed to get Robby out. I had just pulled Robby from the vehicle when Scott and Bill arrived.  Without asking any questions, Scott threw me the keys to his car so that I could go pick up Rowan. He stayed with Bill and a gentleman in a truck who also stopped to help.

By the time I picked up Rowan and drove home, the mud laden SUV was sitting in the driveway. To everybody's surprise, the good Samaritan was able to pull it out of the ditch! The car was dirty but undamaged, and my anxiety and fear turned to embarrassment when I knew that everything was going to be okay.

As promised I took Robby and Rowan to the bounce house. I sat in the bounce lounge, beating myself up for stupidly driving into a ditch. I couldn't believe that I had done something that irresponsible! We were so incredibly lucky that nobody was hurt and that the SUV was pulled out dirty but unscathed.

I called my Mom and began to rant about my stupidity. She stopped me in mid sentence and told me something that I desperately needed to hear. "You made a mistake. You aren't perfect, and it's okay." In that moment I forgave myself for the accident, accepted the gift that nobody was hurt and that the car was undamaged, and promised to pay the good Samaritan forward by helping somebody else someday.

As soon as I embraced the fact that I am not perfect, I began to feel better about driving into the ditch. I tried to put the accident out of my mind and began to concentrate on having fun. We came home and had a pizza party followed by a walk to see the duck pond. 

Somehow the walk morphed into a dance party. The fact that it began to steadily rain only added to the fun! We must have been quite a sight for the neighbors, dancing down the street in the rain to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" and "Beat It.". Both kids were laughing, singing and having a good time. I'm so glad that Robby is not yet at the age where he is embarrassed to sing and dance with me!

I was exhausted by the time I crawled into bed Friday night. Between the luncheon, driving into a ditch and the dance party in the rain, the day had been the epitome of good and bad. I'm so glad that I ended the evening by dancing in the rain, laughing with my little boy!