Real Life Rescue Heroes

This morning, in a moment of really bad timing, I tried to close the sliding door on our minivan while Noah was untangling the seat belt from his booster seat.  The seat belt got caught in the door and the door would neither open nor close.  We struggled with door.  We struggled with the seat belt.  We got testy with each other and we struggled to not say hurtful words in the midst of a frustrating situation.  Finally, I said, "Okay, we'll just have to drive to school like this.  If we go now you won't be too late." Noah took a seat in the way back and we drove to school slowly and carefully with the door locked in it's slightly open position.

As we drove my mind was racing.  Who could help us?  Could I call AAA?  Would they have to remove the door? And how much would that cost?  I needed a team.  I needed a team of creative problem solvers.  I needed a team of creative problem solvers with tools!

So after I dropped Noah off at school we drove slowly and carefully to the auto body shop that fixed our van after my accident on the day Miles shoved something up his nose.   I walked sheepishly into their office and explained my problem.  One employee said, "Okay, we can at least take a look."  He walked outside and struggled with the door.  Another man came out and saw the situation.  He crawled inside the van struggled with the seat belt.  A third man came out and tried to help by pulling on the door while the other two tried to pull out the seat belt.  The van shook and bounced and the two little boys in their car seats giggled and whooped with glee.  But the door was still stuck.

The man inside the van got out and said, "We need a plan."  And just like that I had my team of creative problem solvers with tools.  One man went inside to fetch a couple of crowbars.  And then they all took their positions.  One inside with one crowbar.  One near the front of the door gripping the door handle.  And one near the back of the door with the other crowbar.  In three seconds and with a loud click the door was unstuck, the seat belt was freed and the six of us shouted, "Yeah!"  It was a sweet victory.  

The three men high-fived one another and wished me a good morning.  I simply grinned and said, "Thank you so much!  You're all heroes."  And they ducked their heads and blushed.  It was sweet.  It was community.  It was a big sigh of relief for me.

And so I'm giving a big shout out to True Form Collision Repair.  They did beautiful work on the front of our van after the accident.  And the way they helped out a neighbor this morning has cemented our loyalty to them.  Thank you, True Form Collision Repair.  You are good neighbors and we're proud to be in your community.