Like many other people, I looked forward to a peaceful mother's day spent with my mother. We had planned on getting dressed up and going to a nice lunch with our family friends and then maybe after lunch we would go hike, work out, or just enjoy one another's comapny. My mother and I have always been incredibly close, and I love having the chance to celebrate how special she is.
However, in order to get to our celebratory Sunday, we had to drive my car from Texas, (where I go to schol) back to Arizona: a drive that usually ends up being about 17 hours. With my two-door 2002 Honda Civic packed up, we began the long drive across the desolate southwestern deserts.
My mother was a saint and drove the entire first 9-hour day. She realized that I was sleep deprived from finals, and graviously agreed to stay behind the wheel and allow me sleep. We drove through west Texas and made it to a little town in New Mexico, called Las Cruces, which would be our stopping point for the night. We had a hotel reservation, and decided that before checking in for the night, we would drive aroud the tiny town to find something for dinner.
As we made a slow right turn, we heard a giant thud and the steering while locked up. We immediatly stopped the car, fratically put it in park and got out- in the middle of the street. My front wheel was cock-eyed, smoking, and obviously not in good shape.
"I think we just lost our transmission," my mom said. We scrambled to get out of the street, leaving my car to block traffic. Within minutes, multiple people offered to help us and two police officers showed up. They directed traffic and chatted with us as we waited for a tow truck, because it was quite obvious that my car was not moving anywhere on its own.
The police officer investigated the crooked wheel and rambled off a couple car words that I didn't quite understand. What I did understand, was just how lucky we were that this car issue had happened while we were traveling at 25 miles per hour, rather than 75 on the freeway.
"If this had happened on the freeway, you probably would've flipped. You wouldn't be here talking to me right now. You definitely had a guardian angel watching over you," the police officer said.
So currently, we are spending our Mother's Day in Las Cruces, New Mexico while we wait for my car to get fixed. We aren't sure when we will be able to finish our trip and arrive back in Arizona, because we don't know how long it will take to get to the parts to fix my car.
This is what our mother’s day looks like: stranded in New Mexico and trying to make the best of our time here! After, one car malfunction, and then getting rear-ended in our rental car, we are just thankful to be together and safe.
It may not be a glamorous mother’s day brunch I had envisioned, but there’s nobody I would rather be with. Every time I feel like whining or complaining that our Mother's Day plans were ruined, I realize just how lucky we are to simply be safe. I am so lucky to call this incredible woman my mother, and forever thankful that she is willing to spend her special day with me, no matter the circumstances.
