This New Year’s Eve was the 61st time that Donn and I have been together on New Year’s Eve, and what a comedy of errors it turned out to be! One wonders if the 1st New Year’s Eve in 1964 had been like this one whether we would have been together for anymore!
At 10:30 a.m. things started out quite well with a good report from my routine every three-or-four-month check up at New Castle Hillman Cancer Center. After that, the plan was as follows: Monroeville Mall and lunch, Holiday Inn Express to check in, Phipps Conservatory by 5:30 p.m., an Eat ‘n Park for dinner, and back to the Holiday Inn Express.
As we drove away from HCC, we discovered we wouldn’t be able to go the way Donn had planned because of a detour. However, with the help of our GPS, Donn got us to the Mall a different way. We enjoyed exploring the Mall, lunch at the Food Court and a snack at Barnes and Nobles, and all was well.
We’d made our reservation at Phipps late enough to be able to enjoy their outdoor light show, so we headed for our motel first. It was in Homestead where we’d never been before and was a bit hard to find—one of those you can see it but there’s no way to get there! But once again, our GPS eventually got us there.
The motel had been recently renovated and was beautiful and clean. Staff was friendly and after a bit of a rest, we walked through the motel lobby on our way to the car. Donn asked the assistant manager, half jokingly, how to get to Phipps since we’d never gone from Homestead. She started to say something, then said, “Oh just follow your GPS and you’ll be fine!”
I told her about a time our GPS had taken us out in the boondocks in an unfamiliar area and said, “Arriving Walmart on the right.” I smiled, “There was absolutely NOTHING on the right, let alone a Walmart! But it usually does fine.”
We all had a good laugh, and we went to our car and headed for Phipps. As we drew near, once again DETOUR signs appeared, but this time we kept on going, hoping we would get to Phipps before we had to take the detour. We did!
Donn dropped me near the Phipps entry and went to find a parking space. I asked him to put my purse in the trunk after he parked. When we’d planned this trip, I’d noticed that the weather forecast was calling for rain during the time we hoped to be outdoors at Phipps enjoying the light show, so my only prayer request was that God would clear away the showers. Still, I called Donn to make sure he brought an umbrella because it was sprinkling as I walked to the Phipps lobby. I had covered all our bases.
By the time we toured the lovely indoor holiday displays at Phipps, the rain had completely stopped. We rejoiced all during our beautiful, rain-free outdoor tour and all the way to the car that it wasn’t raining! What could possibly go wrong?
When we arrived at our car, Donn reached into his coat pocket to get his car keys. Then he reached into his other coat pocket—then each of them again. “Hmmm, I can’t find my keys…” he said, removing his coat to search his pants pockets. No car keys. “Maybe I laid them in the trunk when I put your purse in there.”
“Oh dear! My keys are in my purse in the trunk!” I responded. I pulled out my IPhone and said, “We’ll have to call AAA.”
I had noticed during our Phipps’ tour that my phone charge was getting low, but I hoped it would last for this call. Donn got out his AAA card and I punched their telephone number into my phone and handed it to Donn. After a few moments, he said, “Nothing’s happening.”
I took my phone and saw that it had died! Okay, not what I’d hoped for! Donn has a flip phone but not something I wanted to depend on in this situation. He pulled out his phone and once again, we punched in the AAA phone number. As could be expected, our call was answered by an automated “person” who told him to punch in his very long AAA membership number. He did, but neither of us could figure out how to send it on its way to the virtual person. If only my phone hadn’t died!
Donn said, “Let’s go inside where there’s light.” We walked back to the Phipps lobby and Donn went to the main desk. I trailed behind him, not sure what he planned.
“Could you call AAA for us or could I use your phone?” The receptionist was so gracious and Donn called AAA on their phone. Eventually, he got a real person who asked him a lot of questions and wanted Donn’s telephone number. Believe it or not, neither of us knew his phone number because we relied mainly on my IPhone where his number was recorded! Could this situation get any worse? We felt like such idiots!
Finally we gave the AAA representative the Phipps’ phone number and waited for him to get back to us. As we waited, Donn and I discussed our situation. I said, “If you put your keys in the trunk, you wouldn’t have been able to lock the car. Did we even check to see if the car was locked? Maybe it isn’t!”
So Donn went to find out if the car was locked. I hung around near the desk in case the AAA rep called us back. Eventually, by way of explanation, I told the receptionist and the gentleman behind the desk, “My husband went to see if our car is locked. He can’t find his car keys, and he thought he might have locked them in the trunk.”
Then gentleman and lady at the desk exchanged a meaningful look and the man said, “What kind of car?”
“A Toyota,” I relied, wondering why it mattered.
He sprinted off and returned in a flash holding a set of car keys. “Are these his keys?”
I knew immediately that they were Donn’s because the house key on the ring is badly bent, and I’ve been after him to replace it for at least a year! When I explained to them how I knew they were ours, the gentleman said, “We didn’t know he couldn’t find his keys—we thought he was calling AAA because his car wouldn’t start! Someone turned in these keys. We don’t know where they were found.”
I thanked them profusely and hurried off to find Donn who was coming into the lobby. When I handed him his keys and explained what had happened, we headed for the car, thanking the Lord again and again that someone had turned in the keys. If I hadn’t mentioned that Donn thought he’d locked his keys in the trunk, the people at the desk would never have realized the keys that had been turned in were ours!
By this time, we were VERY hungry, and I put Eat ‘n Park into the restaurant category in our GPS–there were many in Pittsburgh. What could possibly go wrong?
This blog has gotten way too long so you’ll have to wait until next week to find out “the rest of the story!”
Thank you, Father, that no matter what situations we find ourselves in, you have promised never to leave us or forsake us. There are always more reasons to praise you! Amen.