I was asked to share this story with our church yesterday as a "caution" to all those who will be driving during this winter season. It got me thinking about how I had personally not documented it yet, and I realized that I needed to while the story was still fairly fresh in my mind. And so, readers, I issue this WARNING: This is a long story, and many of you have already heard it. In fact, it's really meant to be more for my own personal journaling than anything else, so I wanted to document all the details that I could remember. Don't say I didn't warn you.
This story takes place in Michigan while I was 8-months pregnant with Jake. There was a big snow storm coming in, and knowing that I had to make the 30 minute drive to pick up my husband from work and then drive an extra 20 minutes home, my boss let me leave early before things got too bad outside. I left with what I thought was plenty of time to "beat the storm." However, by the time I had driven onto the freeway, the sun had gone down, and the snow and ice was really coming on strong. To make matters worse, I had failed to take into consideration that in this kind of weather, a drive that would have normally taken me 30 minutes would now take at least an hour. Count that as mistake #1.
As I was driving on the freeway through this terrible storm, my windshield started to get the "perma-ice" on it, and I could hardly see a thing. I was being as careful as I could in our little green Chevy Malibu, when all of the sudden right in front of me a big mini-van spun out of control and almost hit me before it landed in the ditch. It was at that moment that I realized that no matter how careful I was being on the road, I couldn't control other cars, and that was putting me in very real danger. I said many silent prayers on my way to pick up Joseph, while the snow and ice just kept coming.
By now it was pitch black outside, except for all the white snow falling from the sky. I still could hardly see out of my windshield, and it was in this condition that I made mistake #2. You see, there were two ways to get to Joseph's work. One was to take the main road, the other was to take a back road that was usually faster. At this time, I was more paranoid about other cars on the road spinning out of control and hitting me than anything else, and I figured, hey, I'm in Michigan, we're used to snow-storms like this, no doubt this backroad will be plowed and I won't have to deal with so many other cars. So, in the moment of decision, I took the backroad.
As soon as I turned onto that road, I knew it was a huge mistake. There was literally a foot and a half of snow on the road, and the only way to get through it was to follow some tracks that had been made by another car that had gone before me. I couldn't turn around because I knew my little malibu wouldn't make it going through so much snow without getting stuck. The only way to go was forward. I thought that as long as I stayed within the bounds of the two tracks and I kept moving, I could eventually make it to Joseph.
The snow continued to come down hard, and I was moving along fine, albeit slowly. All of the sudden, there was a break in the tracks and my car got stuck in the now 2-feet deep snow. My pregnancy hormones started to kick into high gear and I called Joseph in hysterics. He calmly walked me through how to rock the car so I could get some traction on the tires and start moving again. After a few failed attempts, I finally got going, and I knew that if I could just somehow keep moving then I would be fine.
After traveling at 2 mph for about ten minutes minutes, the inevitable happened: I saw two red brake lights in front of me. As I reached the stopped car, I saw what had happened. A huge SUV had apparently started to go down this road, decided it wasn't a good idea, and tried to turn around. However, even this 4-wheel-drive monster of a car was no match for this snowstorm, and it had gotten stuck sideways in the road, blocking both sides of traffic.
And that was it. I was officially 100% stuck. There was no way around it. I couldn't go back, and I couldn't go forward. Now I REALLY started to panic. Luckily, we had AAA Roadside Assistance, so I quickly gave them a call, explained my situation, and they said that they would send a tow truck ASAP to get me out of there. Phew!
But wait, the story doesn't end there! They said it would take about an hour or so to send someone out, and I, being 8-months pregnant, was desperate to find a toilet. Luckily (and this is really where the grace of God kicked in) my car had gotten stuck in front of a house who had a man outside that was snowblowing his driveway. In my state of panic, I ran up to this man and asked if I could use his bathroom. He kind of gave me a funny look, but seeing that I was hugely pregnant, he kindly obliged. He said that his wife was inside and would show me to the bathroom.
After using their bathroom, I came out and in all of my panic and worry over what was happening to me, I just started sobbing. Obviously a little shocked, the wife asked me if I was ok. I just explained to her what was happening - about how I had gotten stuck, and I didn't know how I was going to make it to my husband, and how AAA said they weren't going to be there for a whole hour, and how this storm showed absolutely no signs up letting up. After hearing my (literal) sob story, she showed great compassion and fed me some of her family's leftover dinner and let me wait in her home while AAA came to get my car.
I waited and waited. The hour dragged on. The storm was getting worse and worse. Finally, I received a phone call from AAA. "Umm...ma'am I'm sorry to tell you this, but the street that your car is on has been deemed 'impassable,' which means that we can't send our tow trucks down that road. The road plows have stopped plowing, and there is just no way that we can get to you."
And that was that. My fate was sealed. There was no hope from here. I called Joseph to tell him that there was no way that I could get to him. Luckily, a guy from his football team lived across the street from where he worked, so he was able to walk over and stay the night at a friend's house. I, on the other hand, was completely at a loss. What should I do? Should I sleep in my car? I didn't have any blankets, water, food, or anything in there, but I didn't dare ask this stranger's family to let me stay in their home overnight. And honestly, who knew how long I would be stuck there? Even when the storm passed, it left a mighty pile of snow in it's wake that my little car just couldn't pass through. I would be stuck until the plows got to my road, and I had no way of knowing when that would be.
Sensing my distress (I've never been one to hide it well) the kind woman offered to let me stay there overnight. I was terribly embarrassed, but to be honest, incredibly grateful for her offer. She had already been my saving grace, but in that moment she was literally an angel to me. By now it was about 9:00, and I thought that maybe a good night's sleep would clear my head a little and maybe we could work out a solution in the morning.
Of course, all schools were cancelled the next day, and the snow plows came around 3:00 in the afternoon. With the help of his friend's truck, Joseph was finally able to get to me and help me get our car out of the snow. We successfully managed to drive home, and I had never been more grateful for the comfort of our shabby little apartment.
Sometimes when I think about this story, I find myself pondering the "what-ifs." What if I hadn't stopped in front of this house? What if I had been just a half-mile farther up the road and there were literally no homes in sight? What if I wasn't pregnant, but instead had an infant with me? What if this man hadn't let me use his bathroom? It just keeps going and going. Luckily, what could have been a nightmare turned into just a...well, bad dream. I knew at the time that it would be a good story to tell in the weeks, months, and years down the road, but right then I was just grateful to be with Joseph in the safety of our own home. I was also grateful that I didn't go into early labor. But more than anything, I was so incredibly grateful for the kindness of a stranger and his family, and it reminded that even in this sometimes rotten world that we live in, people are good, and the Lord will answer our prayers through those wonderful people.
Born on his due date, December 28, weighing 7 lbs. 5 oz.
Here's the deal: Jake is going to be three in March. And he has literally zero interest in going to the bathroom. We've tried the rewards system, treats, two different potties (including the one above that makes awesome car noises) pull-ups, and even threatening. There was one point where he went pretty consistently on the potty, and we would always give him a treat and lots of praise, but then he decided he was over it. He stopped wanting to go, and now every time I ask him if he wants to sit on the potty he says, in his sweet little innocent voice, "I can't go potty, mommy, I can't like it." No, Jake, you WON'T go potty. I know perfecty well that you can, you've done it plenty of times before.
Lately, Jake has been pulling what my sister-in-law affectionately coined "the ear-muffs": when he has done something wrong and he knows you're going to say something about it, he simply puts his hands over his ears and pretends like he can't hear you. He also does it when he just doesn't like what you're saying to him.
