U-Haul

No miracles today... Well, it was almost a miracle. 

I almost wrote about this last week, but was just too darn tired.

But last Thursday was the big moving day. I picked up a U-Haul in Riverside and met my son, Nick at the Riverside house where I've lived with my sister the last three years.

Things were complicated by the fact that my sister will not let anyone in her house. So the furniture and boxes from my room I had to wheel out myself on the dolly.

That was enough to wear me out.

Then came the boxes full of memories. Box after box out of the garage. A box of old Halloween costumes I made for the kids when they were young. 

I thought maybe this year we could give them away, but they brought out the sentimental side of Nick.

Next came the box of photos and photo albums. Wedding photos - a reminder of days of bliss and naiveté. Photos of my girls, smiling and innocent, hugging their mother who loved them. A reminder of simpler days. Box after box of Christmas decorations - each a reminder of someone or some event.

Then of course came my drawers and drawers of fabric - which I will soon be able to use when I start making my quilts once again (something I am soooo excited about doing!)

And last, but not least, my antique drafting table made of cast iron and oak.

The thing weighs a ton, but is really a thing of beauty. And just so perfect for designing my quilts on!

By the end of the afternoon we were all exhausted. Every muscle in my back burned with fire.

And I could not be more thankful for my dear, loyal Nick. 

He did the majority of the lifting, with me helping him here and there with the really big things.

He lifted and carried and organized and packed the van with precision.

And he only grumbled a couple of times. But he stopped when I gently reminded him that his dear old mom is actually a middle-aged woman now and no longer the super woman she used to be. (I think that might have been a revelation to him.)

With everything packed in, I had Nick drive the U-Haul truck back out to the road (as we had to drive over the curb to avoid the low-hanging branches on Patty’s beautiful crepe myrtle tree.)

He expertly maneuvered around the rock retaining wall, over the curb and parked it in the middle of the street, facing down the hill. He put on the emergency brake and hopped down.

“Okay, mom. I need to buy gas, so I’m going to go down to the gas station and I’ll meet you there.”

He left in his car and I climbed up into the U-Haul truck and tried to release the brake. 

Nothing. 

I thought maybe I wasn’t pushing hard enough since that was my sore knee and I had a knee brace on. 

I pushed again. 

And again.

Nothing.

I tried it in drive, in neutral, with the engine off, the engine on… Nothing!

So I called the 800 number on the rental agreement to ask what I was doing wrong. It rang forever and then I was put on hold for five minutes. In the meantime, people are driving around me, honking to let me know I am in the way - duh!

Finally, the woman comes on the line and tells me I have to press the brake all the way to the floor to release it. Told her it was done, but to no avail.

“Okay. Did you try it in neutral?”

I put it in neutral and tried again. Nothing.

“That’s okay. There’s a hand release, but it is hard to find. If you get down out of the truck and look under the console where the steering column goes under the dash, you’ll see it up underneath. It’s kind of hard to find…”

“Okay, I am out of the truck, but I don’t see it…”

She waits patiently while I duck my head between the seat and the console and feel around for the hidden release.

“Aha! I see it!”

“Okay, pull that outward and the brake will release.”

It did. But guess what! The truck is still in neutral! 
It lurches forward and takes off, rolling down the steep hill, gaining momentum by the second! 

That first, sudden lurch sends a tearing sensation down the muscles of my lower back and in that second I knew I’d be in pain by the morning.

I had one hand on the door and the other on my phone. 

In the flash of a second, I hear her asking, “Did that work?” as my brain is registering that the truck is now rolling down the hill at quite a clip!

Running along, my hand on the door, I reached up with my phone hand, and grabbed at the steering wheel (the bottom of which was about level with the top of my head) and the truck swerves to the left (where I am) and toward the left side of the road.

I am running as fast as I can - still holding the phone! - and realize someone in an SUV is trying to pass me on the left and I am about to collide with them (with me in between the vehicles!) 

And I am still running and still holding the phone…

I grab at the bottom of the steering wheel, calculating quickly and aiming for the 5:00 position. But the truck now veers toward the right side of the road where a half dozen cars are parked along the side of the road in front of houses. Somehow, in my panic, I miscalculated. (Go figure!)

About this time, I am thanking God that I paid the extra $28 for the million dollar insurance coverage - and inexplicably, I’m still holding the phone!

My legs are giving out as the truck continues to pick up speed and each stride is longer and faster. 

I’ll never make it! I am running and trying to steer the truck so that it at least stays in the right lane, but not too close to the parked car - and amazingly, I’m still holding the phone.

I can hear bits of the woman’s voice on the other end of the line… 

“Are you there?  Are you okay?  Hello..?”

I realize if I can at least keep it in the center of the road I at least won’t wreck anyone’s car. And providing that I can make it across the road at the bottom of the hill where our street dead ends into the Sierra Vista, I will only crash into the church office building.

Hopefully nobody will get hurt. I’ll let go of the truck before it gets to the crossroad, just in case. 

And again I think to thank God I paid the extra $28 for the million dollar insurance coverage - and I’m still holding the phone!  

But only because it's in the same hand that is trying to hold onto the wheel while I try not to let my feet get dragged under the truck!

I don’t know exactly how it happened, but somehow I miraculously found myself in the shoulder-high driver’s seat, my heart racing so fast it frightened me more than the runaway truck.

I had mustered every ounce of strength I had and launched myself at the wheel, pulling with both arms (as my legs were now basically just flapping along behind me on the pavement trying to keep up as we barreled down the hillside.)

Scrambling across the bench seat, I fumbled to get my now exhausted and somewhat numb feet into the floor of the truck and stomp on the brake.

The truck finally, against all odds, comes to a stop about four or five houses down the hill from our original position, and believe it or not, I’m still holding the darn phone!

The woman on the other end asks, “Did you find the hand release?”

I had a rising urge to laugh hysterically, but somehow I refrained. 

After a couple of gasping breaths, I gasped, “Yes, I found it. Thanks!” and hung up.

I sat there for several moments just trying to gain my composer and catch my breath. The phone - which I’d finally dropped onto the passenger seat - begins to ring, and with shaking hands, I pick it up and answer.

“Mom, where are you?!!”

“Uh…I’m just getting ready to leave.”

“What’s taking you so long?”

“Uh…I just had a little trouble with the emergency brake, but it’s all good now.” My voice is shaking.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh…yeah…I’m fine. Pam needs gas too, so we’ll be there in a couple of minutes.”

And with a sigh of relief and a prayer of thanks, I finally put the truck into drive and call the day a success.

I’ve found that the road through life is seldom what you think it is going to be. 

Sometimes the brakes of life keep you stuck in a place you don't want to be. 

And sometimes things travel faster than you’d planned. But if you just hold onto that lifeline as you run down the hill of life, doing your best to keep on the road, things will turn out okay.

So here’s to another Friday night, and my son who carried most of the burdens, and traveling down memory lane and being able to remember the good times and let the rest just remain behind….