Our Sunday was not out of the ordinary until we drove away from church on a busy street. The car bucked repeatedly, and all the emergency lights came on. John managed to rabbit-hop into the parking lot of a funeral home before it died. We were 30 miles from home. Stranded!!! As John looked up the number of AAA (roadside assistance), David and Kate ran to the front of the lot to find the address and name of the funeral home. In a matter of minutes, the dispatcher said a tow truck had just passed our location and would turn around to help us.

John would ride in the truck with the car, but what would the four of us do? We thought of the one neighbor who had a car big enough to carry us and who might be home. Angels don’t hesitate. They act. That’s exactly what Marla and Connie did. They were heading to the supermarket, so they immediately turned the car in our direction. Cars on the interstate ramp were stopped. Thinking quickly, they diverted to state roads, which took a bit more time than expected. The photo shows Kate and the boys in the shade of a tree with our sick car in the background.

A somber funeral director came out to see what we were doing. I explained that our car died and was being taken away.

“There is nothing you can do for a dead car, is there?” I said.

The man was obviously used to dealing with distraught people, but he didn’t know how to handle someone saying silly things. After a long pause, he had a good answer, “I guess the only thing we could do is wash it.”

The tension was broken when we all laughed. I asked, “Are you having a funeral this afternoon?”

Yes, there would be a viewing in half an hour, with the service an hour later. He was keeping an eye on activity in his parking lot, especially one that was not related to a human dying. It would be unseemly to have stranded motorists whooping it up as mourners gathered for a funeral. I said neighbors were coming to pick us up, after which he said we could come inside and use the restrooms. We thanked him as the tow truck pulled the car on its back. I told the boys that they were an asset. Having at least two people in their Sunday best made our presence more acceptable.

We settled on benches to wait.

Before long Marla was there, hopping out of the car to help us in. Being rescued was great, but having cheerful rescuers was far more than I requested. We were very grateful and enjoyed chatting with them on the way home.

I have praised all our neighbors before, but I need to say more. We have THE BEST!