
I bought this recliner almost five years ago, though it seems much longer, from the furniture store in Delta, Lily and Rose. I’m grateful for this family-owned local business that’s given great service to the region for four generations. It was effortless to call up on Monday and say, “I bought a chair there a few years ago, I can’t remember how many, and it needs some help,” and he said, “Okay, no problem.” He said it might be a couple of weeks but they’d get someone out next time they came this way. Cody the driver called the next day and said they were in the area and would come see what they could do. He and Joey came in courteously masked at my request, and cheerfully gave the chair its suspension back and fixed the footrest so it stays up.

This morning I went out about fifteen minutes early to make sure the car would start, because it’s whined a little before turning over the past couple of times I’ve started it, despite the solar-powered trickle charger I have hooked up to the battery. I wanted to make sure I had time to jump it if it wouldn’t start. It didn’t, so I pulled the Mothership around and hooked up the cables. Nothing. For the next half-hour I left the van running and tried a different set of cables, and still nothing. I called the Service Station where I was expected for my hard-won eleven a.m. appointment that I hated to cancel. First he asked me, “What did you leave on?” I had to laugh. “Nothing!” He asked if the lights worked. Yes they did. He said maybe it was the starter, and assured me he didn’t have another oil-change spot available until mid-December. Okay.
Then I made calls to cancel PT, and visiting my friend, and dropping off something for a neighbor. I tried to start the car again, still nothing. So I wrapped up that operation, then called my local State Farm agent Kevin’s office and was grateful to confirm that I have Roadside Assistance. I asked who to call for a tow and she named some local options. Then I called Ray down at Hotchkiss Automotive to see if he could fit my car in after the holiday, and he said sure, have Phil’s tow it in. Then I called Phil and told him I needed a tow to Ray’s, and I have insurance with Kevin, and he said, “Sure, no problem,” and filled out the paperwork. “I live next door to Kevin, you know,” he said. “Oh, yes, of course!” I said, recalling the neighborhood. “I think I can send someone up there this afternoon,” he said.

Young Trae arrived an hour later. Wren was initially skeptical of him as she is of most men, but as soon as he got on the ground in front of her car she dashed right over to help. And then I bid farewell to my little Honda car for the holiday weekend. What could have been another irritating hassle of a day was instead a seamless flow of cheerful support from local businesses, some of whom I’ve had a relationship with for decades. I’m so grateful for the kindness and dependability of all these people; and, I’ve decided that Patience will be my Wednesday practice going forward.

