Yesterday, after baking bread for Matt to share at his business meeting I was driving like a mad woman to get it to him on-time. The bread didn't rise here like it did back in Utah. Anyway along the way my gas light turned on. I got the bread to Matt and headed over to Costco to get gas. About half a mile from Matt's work the car started to sputter and... yep you guessed it, I ran out of gas. I knew we were low but I only drove about 4 or 5 miles with the E light on, or so I thought. Anyhow, I had enough sense when it started sputtering to let off the gas and coast to the nearest turn. We were on a busy street. I made it to Lowe's and started to pull into the parking lot. I didn't quite make it and ended up about 50 yards in, on a slight incline. My car didn't have enough fumes to make it the 20 more yards to a flat level spot. So I threw it in park and turned on my hazards.
Let me back up in the story for a second... randomly Matt left the cell phone home. He ALWAYS takes it to work with him. He didn't so I grabbed it to take it to him. I forgot to give it to him when I rushed him the homemade bread and fresh strawberry jam. So, knowing Matt was in a meeting and unreachable I knew I would have to sit and wait until he was done.
After Matt's presentation was over he was planning to take his lunch and meet us at the park, which is the same direction as Costco so I knew he would drive by us anyway but just to make sure I texted a co-worker of his, Ryan to let him know of our situation.
Here are the Tender Mercies of the whole ordeal,
I had a phone, that usually isn't the case. I am glad too that Ryan was able to pass the message along as to where we were waiting for Matt.
I am also glad that we were in the parking lot of Lowe's so Matt ran in bought a gas can and went to Costco and got gas and it took about 10 minutes. They are very close together. What a Good Samaritan/ knight in shining armor he was.
I am also VERY glad to say that in the 1 hour and 45 minute wait Ty was asleep in the back seat the ENTIRE time. He fell asleep right after we left Matt's office so I made him comfy in the back seat hoping he wouldn't wake up. He woke up just as Matt walked up with the full gas can.
I actually mixed Maylee's formula. I was in a rush out the door and I thought Nah I'll just get water from Matt's office to mix it with... then I decided last minute to just mix it really quickly instead. Because of that I was able to sit and feed Maylee while we waited for Matt.
Also, I was asked by probably 25 people if I needed help. It was pretty obvious we were stuck since I was sitting on the curb holding Maylee with the door open so Ty didn't get too hot. Isn't that nice? Some people even got our of their cars and walked almost all the way over to me to help with my car problems. One kind older fellow was even willing to buy me a gas can and go get gas for me... I assured him my husband would be there soon to help me. What a bunch of Good Samaritans, I had people offer their help from teenage boys to old women in there 70's. The one age that didn't even bother was... can you guess? Women MY age. Weird right? I kind of want to do a social experiment now on that type of thing.
Lastly, it didn't rain... here in WA there is always a threat of rain...
SO a lot of good things that could have been a bad day.
Flash forward to this morning, I went grocery shopping at a new store I was unfamiliar with. It wasn't a bad store I was just a little irritated because I was on a bit of a time crunch and couldn't find everything I needed not to mention Ty wanted to sit in the big race car shopping cart which slows me down considerably all ready.
I got out to the car, with my mammoth shopping cart and I put Ty in his car seat then unloaded the groceries in the trunk, then walked around and put Maylee in the car. I threw the receipts, my wallet and the keys on the front seat of the car, I didn't have any pockets. While I was buckling her in Ty jumped out I didn't buckle him in yet, and crawled to the front seat. I shut Maylee's door and walked around to get Ty out of the passenger side seat and buckle him in and something terrible happened... he shut the door... then used his cute little two year old index finger to lock all the doors in the car. He had no idea what he was doing. I kept totally calm and actually thought it was a little ironic right off...car trouble two days in a row...then after trying to coax Ty into pushing that same button UP rather then DOWN for about 30 minutes I lost it... it was starting to rain but both my children were locked in the car of the parking lot.
I didn't have a phone to call anyone and I didn't dare run inside to go get help and leave my kids. I sat down on the curb to try and figure something out and I just started crying, not very common for me but it happened. It stopped sprinkling thankfully but I still didn't know what to do. A kind woman named Sarah noticed me sitting there crying and asked me if she could help me... I said "Yes, my two year old son unknowingly locked himself in the car and he doesn't know how to unlock it." This whole time Ty had good spirits and he kept pushing down on the button over and over, just not up. So Sarah and her 5 year old son stood there with me and and tried to get him to push up. She was trying to bribe him with a cookie, a Popsicle and candy bar anything to get him to unlock the door. Ty didn't really understand what she was talking about but kept a smile on his face the whole time.
After about 10 minutes of this Ty started to get upset realizing I can't get to him. He kept sticking his face and his two little hands on the window. Then he found the keys and actually put the right one in the ignition... I told him "no no Ty Ty don't do that! Take the keys out." So he did and threw the keys under the seat. Thank goodness he did that. At that point Sarah noticed Maylee asleep in the back seat. She said, "You have TWO kids in there?" I said "Yes, my daughter is 3 months old" so she got a little more worried and I suggested we call the Police. She used he phone and spoke to the police for me, they said they couldn't do anything but break the window but that they would call
pop-a-lock to come help. She asked how long and they said about 15-30 minutes. She relayed the info to me and said she would stay there with me until the kids were out. I asked her if I could call Matt on her phone so maybe he could come sit with me instead. She all ready had given up so much time and effort to help I didn't want to waste any more of her time. She agreed and Matt actually picked up on the first try. I explained the situation while doing so I got a bit frantic and began to cry again... Matt told me that he would be there soon. Since we just moved here I had a hard time explaining to him exactly where I was and how to get there. We figured it out and left expecting to be with me in 10 minutes.
We waited about 3 more minutes and low and behold the
pop-a-lock fellow came and it took him less the 30 seconds to unlock our car. Sarah let me use her phone again so I could tell Matt we got in, it took 3 tries to get him. He was glad we were taken care of and headed back to work. She walked away after I started filling out the
pop-a-lock paperwork. I thanked Sarah over and over for her help and she told me it was no problem that her kids have locked her out of plenty of things so now she has hide a key's everywhere and urged me to do the same. As I finished the paperwork I handed the guy my license like he asked and also my credit card expecting to pay a hefty amount and he told me, "Oh no, there is no charge, I am just glad your kids are safe." I started crying again... I thanked him over and over and got in the car and cried all the way home.
SOOO Tender mercies there? (Totally obvious)
Ty was in good spirits for the most part and didn't panic right away.
Maylee was asleep and it wasn't time for her to eat for another hour due to her waking up later then usual this morning. Normally she would have been long over due and probably screaming in the back seat.
It wasn't hot outside so the inside temperature of the car was okay and it didn't pour down rain while I was stuck outside the car.
Kind Sarah and her oh so patient 5 year old son stopped to help a sobbing mother on the curb in the parking lot.
The
pop-a-lock fellow didn't charge us and got to us in what seemed like record time...
Boy do I have some serious guardian angels watching over me... the Tender Mercies were ABUNDANT the last two days... After Matt got home from work and I had time to talk to him more about everything I cried yet again thinking about all the things that could have happened and didn't and then stated " I AM NOT GOING ANYWHERE IN THAT CAR TOMORROW!" You can bet I have prayed a TON thanking my Father in Heaven for being mindful and taking such good care of me and my family.
