When I want to do something, I try my best to reach my goal, sometimes with just hard work and sheer perserverance. Sometimes luck is a factor and most times I just reach out to the universe and say. “Make it happen!” in an abracadabra way or “Let it be!” but not in a Beatles way. And sometimes the universe works.
My sister was getting married in December, which is a lovely time to get married in India. The weather is warm, the flowers are blooming, the stars are aligned and it is the official wedding season. Trivia note to this is that most grooms arrive for the wedding on white horses, so there is a huge supply and demand issue. Many horses do double duty and sometimes are replaced by donkeys. The auspicious season ends on a specific day and one year we arrived in India on that day, the last day to auspiciously get married and it took hours to get home because of all the wedding processions.
I was excited to attend my youngest sisters wedding. I was going with my thirteen year old daughter and my eighteen month old son. The weeks before the wedding I was teaching three classes and my daughter and older son had school concerts and activities galore. Somehow, I got my grading done, my last minute shopping done, the suitcases packed, and we headed out to the airport with our tickets and passports.
We reached the counter (this was before 9-11, so rules were lax and lines not too long). I produced the tickets and the passports. The agent behind the counter looked at me and said, “Maam, we have some problems here. You do not have a passport for the toddler and the visas for India are expired.” I truly hate the sinking heart feeling. It is difficult to get airplane bookings to India during holiday season. Availability is a problem. And purchasing new tickets would be very expensive. I explained that my sister was getting married and I really wanted to attend her wedding and be with my family. The necessary supervisor came out and he said, “ I can get you on the same flight tomorrow night if you can get the toddler passport and valid visas by then.”
Universe, you need to work. We drove to Walgreens and got passport photos. We drove to Indianapolis to spend the night with my sister-in-law there. The weather report said snow and ice, so I left the children in Indianapolis and drove to Chicago at 5 am to get my work done.
Just past West Lafayette, it was dark and wintery when brake lights lit up the highway ahead. I instinctively did the same and my car hit black ice and spun out. I am from Minnesota, and I know how to maneuver in ice, so I lifted my foot off the controls and just held the steering wheel as the car spun in a circle and slowed in the opposite lane facing an oncoming semi. I could see the horrified look on the tractor-trailer’s drivers face as he bore down on his horn and screeched his brakes. The world stopped spinning and I swung the steering wheel around and got back into my lane as the semi ice spewed past me and I felt the crunch as my car was rear ended by a pickup truck behind me. I pulled over, my heart still racing and the pickup truck driver jumped out and pulled open my door. “Praise Jesus, you are alive! I thought I killed you!” A police car drove up and we all drove to a Burger King at the next exit where the police report was written.
The police officer gave me sage advice. “Maam, from here to Chicago, it’s all wrecks. If I was you, I would turn around and go back home to Cincinnati,” Yeah, right. I believe that lightning does not really strike twice. The trunk of the car was smashed in, but it was drivable. I headed north. I did notice other drivers driving around me and giving me long looks, probably because of the smashed trunk, but I kept on trucking.
At nine, I reached Chicago, got to a passport office and got my toddler’s passport printed expedited. I took the three passports to the Indian Consulate and gave them to the officer. He said, “No problem, you can pick them up at four.” That was when the shock and awe got me and I did the tear brimming, “My flight is from Cincinnati at seven, I need to drive back.” “Maam, please don’t cry, we will have them out in twenty minutes.” Done, and I headed back to Indianapolis.
This was before cell phones. I did call my husband from a Burger King on the way back to say I would be there in an hour. I reached Indianapolis, with passports, visas, tickets and gathered my family and headed back to Cincinnati, where we caught the seven o’clock flight and flew to India. I actually told no one about the accident, but my husband saw the smashed trunk and said, “What happened!!” so I did have to fess up.
I guess my point is that the universe does work, in mysterious ways, black ice and perserverance counter balance each other, and the world moves on.
Anita Raturi 