When I said I ‘wrecked my car’…

The first thing I learned: I shouldn’t use the word ‘wrecked’ and the phrase ‘my car’ on Facebook until I have clarified with my friends and family that I was speaking hyperbolically when I said I ‘wrecked my car.’

Really, I merely scraped the entire passenger’s side of the van on someone else’s bumper.  Stem to stern.  Blasted depth perception strikes again.

So, I used the word ‘wrecked’ in the same sense that I might wreck a batch of cookies.  No injuries, but now I’m stuck with a mess to clean up.

If you’ve been around for a while, perhaps you know I’m a little hard on cars.  (Robb is laughing aloud in heaven right now.)  I could go down the list, but it’s just not necessary.  Suffice it to say, the passenger’s side is a vulnerable spot for me.  And the driver’s side.  And the rear bumper.

Robb was a corporate trainer for Farmers Insurance, so he knew the drill on repairs to any car.  Over and over again, Robb handled all of this for me (sometimes with a gracious, forgiving spirit, and other times he just handled it) with his many friends in the insurance industry.

This time, the task is mine to handle.

While the process of filing an auto claim is small for most people (and routine for others), this was monumental for me.  It would call me to enter Robb’s corporate world, call his HelpPoint hotline, speak to people whom he had trained, and use the language of claims and auto repair – the words I heard him speak on a daily basis.

I spent Friday afternoon at a body shop, getting an estimate on my vehicle.  Robb used to frequent this body shop; he worked closely with them.  He hosted their drive-in, where people could drop in for quick numbers and signatures.  He dealt with people in varied measures of crisis, whether it was a crimp in their day or a total loss of their car.

I sat in their lobby, watching people come and go, many with that Farmers logo on their shirt.  I wondered if they knew Robb.  If they worked with him.  If they remembered him.

I didn’t introduce myself to anyone.
I didn’t ask anyone if they knew him.

I wasn’t sure I could handle it if they said yes.
I wasn’t sure I could handle it if they said no.

I miss you, babe.

Tricia Lott Williford

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  1. You are so powerful with your words Tricia. There have been many times that I find myself crying and feeling pain or joy in the core of my heart because of your words. Today I felt your words and it hurt so much to even imagine what you must have been feeling. I love my husband, but sometimes forget to appreciate all the little things he is to me. Thank you for reminding me to see it all.

  2. Did you take a picture?! And when I say that, I’m not speaking in hyperbole, simile, metaphors or any other literary technique. I just want to see with my own eyes.

  3. I am so sorry you had to face this – but I am glad it wasn’t a “real” wreck. 🙂

  4. Thanks for sharing this today. What a memory jolter (if that is a word) to go through that. I don’t know what it is like for you. In a small way I can appreciate some things triggering a thought of a loved one that is now gone.

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