This isn’t supposed to happen –

This is the second weekend in a row that Lynette’s car has had trouble. This time, we were both on campus and when we wanted to leave, the car wouldn’t start. With the help of my brother I determined that there was a problem with the starter. So we pushed started the car so we could get it off campus. Lynette was not physically or psychologically able to ‘pop’ the clutch. I guess her dad trained her well when she was learning to drive. After several tries with me pushing, and her ‘easing slowly off of the clutch’ I finally decided to have her push. That was just the thing. Somebody else came to her aid and we got the car going. I’m not sure what that guy thought about me having my wife push the car...but...at least we got it moving.

Even though it was late we decided to drop the truck off at the mechanics shop with plans to bring the keys in the next morning. The next morning, Lynette found out that the truck had been broken into while it was in the mechanics parking lot. But, the strange thing was that somebody stole the doors, along with the radio, dashboard cover and A/C vent covers.

Why the doors? There are probably shady auto-body shops that will buy those instead of new ones. Maybe if I go to the auto-body shop that shares the parking lot with my mechanic I can get doors that curiously have the same dents and scratches my doors had. Hmm, I wonder.

We are now dealing with the insurance company trying to figure out the best way to resolve all this. Hopefully we can take care of it soon, but I’ve heard quite a few horror stories about insurance claims.

Until then, I guess we have a jeep.

To me, this experience demonstrated that neither Lynette nor I are overly concerned about material things. Of course we like material things, but they are not what define us. Yes, we are annoyed, frustrated and even a little angry, but it doesn’t consume us like I have seen others react in similar situations. Dealing with the insurance company will be a pain, and I would rather have avoided that, but the loss of our doors does not affect our happiness and our focus on things that really matter.

What really matters you ask? What could possibly be more important than doors? Well, there are a lot of things. Maybe I’ll write about them on another post. Until then, why don’t comment on what you think is more important than doors? I’d love to get your opinion.

Scott