After almost a year of trying to plan a trip up to Michigan Tech to see my childhood friend and my cousin, I finally found an opportunity to make the trip.

I was really excited because I managed to get a four day weekend opened up. I left on Thursday after my 1 o'clock class let out. That would put me up at Tech at around 9 p.m. that night. I was excited for the drive as all the magical fall colors of Michigan were in their full. The drive up to the bridge was uneventful and I found some time to make phone calls and listen to my latest Spotify playlist. It wasn’t until an hour after the bridge that I heard an unfamiliar “ding” come from the console of my car. I glanced down to see the temperature gauge needle stuck far into the red zone.

“Great it must be a coolant leak” I thought.

I looked for the nearest stop and I quickly rolled into a church parking lot. As I pulled in my engine died as I rolled to a stop. I saw smoke pouring from the hood and my stomach instantly dropped as I realized my plans were quickly about to change.

I was in the middle of the Upper Peninsula in a place that I did not even know the name of. After just one phone call I was able to get through to a repair shop minutes before they closed. Although the car was an unlucky situation, I was overjoyed that they hadn’t closed for the night. Perhaps by the grace of God, I was blessed again when the tow truck showed up and the driver told me that the tow truck had been bought just four days prior and had been registered that day. I was their first tow. Being in a rather rural area the next shop was over 30 minutes away, the place I called was only five. The guys at the shop were extremely kind and stayed open to take a quick look at the car to find the problem so they could get the part ordered first thing in the morning. The owner even offered to drive me to the nearest motel. He then proceeded to show me around and where the best restaurant in town was. After being dropped off I booked a room and went out to eat.

Sure my situation was unexpected but I can’t help but be thankful for the kindness of others. Things didn’t work out the way I planned, but I was given an opportunity to experience how willing others are to help when someone is in need. So as I sat in my room watching TV and eating pizza, I couldn’t help but smile as I laid in bed and thought about how sometimes it is okay that things don’t always work out the way I thought they were planned.