The longest eight minutes of my life (3/3)

My car is the mini van

The day after the wedding I was exhausted and figured I would sleep in. But that was not meant to be.

The owner of the apartment we were renting rang the bell at 9:25 in the morning to tell us that there were people coming to clean the carpet for pesach at 9:40. Which gave us 15 minutes. She apologized saying she booked them 2 months ago, she asked them to come in the afternoon but they said she was the first on the route. I thought it was rude since we were guests and paying for the place. Imagine staying at a hotel where they make you get up so they can change the sheets.

I was tired and bleary eyed and still in pajamas when these 2 frum guys walk in. They tell us we can go back to sleep after they finish, but by that time the noise had woken me up. And the carpets were soaking wet.

We all got dressed and then I asked my father if I could drive the car to my house. He said it was fine but to keep an eye on it for signs of anything unusual. (This was the car that was in an accident.) At this point I had still not spoken to the rabbi about the car, he wasn’t answering his phone. And then when he did talk to me he told me to drive it back to New Haven and he would take care of it there. But my father felt that after an accident it might not be safe to drive.

It got to my house ok. My aunt needed to go to the airport at 2 so I volunteered to drive her. The car fine most of the way there. But then I noticed it started doing this thing where I would press on the gas and it would rev up but it wouldn’t get into gear. So it wasn’t doing anything. I didn’t do anything about it until I left the airport to go home.

I decided not to take the belt parkway and for some reason went the wrong way and ended up way out of my way. I programmed the GPS which told me it would take 34 minutes to get home from where I was, which is the same amount as from the airport. I had driven totally out of my way. I made a U-turn, stopped for a red light, and that was it. The car wouldn’t go. I was stuck in the right lane, there was an emergency lane right next to me but my car wouldn’t move. I put on my hazard lights and people still beeped at me.

I called my father who told me it was most likely a problem with the transmission. I had to cross a really busy street to get to the gas station on the other side. (Sounds like a joke.) Bought transmission fluid, walked back, saw a cop taking a look inside my car. I signaled to him that it was my car. He helped me push it to the side. Then he left.

I put in the transmission fluid, got in and started the engine- and thank G-d it drove! There was smoke coming from the hood but my father said it was probably cuz I spilled some fluid in the engine. He told me to drive it home and stick to the right lane.

It gave me trouble all the way home. It would go, then it would stop. And I kept praying that after the stress of the past few days I would just get home safely with no more hassle.

The longest eight minutes of my life. The GPS said there were eight minutes left until I got home. I said tanya by heart the whole way, the same perek over and over in a loop. I hoped it would help. “Please G-d just let me get home okay, Please G-d just let me get home okay.”

Thank G-d. I got home and parked the car.

Then I spoke to the rabbi about what to do with the car. That was a very unpleasant conversation. I will not repeat what he said since it wasn’t very nice.

I took the train back to Connecticut. The car is parked on my block. The transmission is leaking any fluid I put into it. I am no mechanic but it would be safe to assume there’s something wrong with the car.

I don’t like dealing with stressful situations. I am not calm. I get nervous. Sometimes I cry. But then I pick myself up and do what I have to do, cuz if not who will do it for me.

And through it all I pray to G-d to give me the strength to get through this.

And of course, I hit number 3 speed dial on my phone, and listen to my father’s comforting voice, and let him tell me what to do. And I know he won't let me down.