First the back story.
My husband and I went to a church leadership training in Lawton on Sunday afternoon. Daryl drove my car and I worked on a plarn sleeping mat during the trip to the church in Lawton, about 22 miles from our house.
The workshops were quite good. It was held at Centenary UMC, a warm, friendly, comfortable church. The best thing about Centenary is their coffee. They make Douwe Egberts coffee from syrup in a Douwe Egberts commercial coffee maker. Oh, my! It's good, even the decaf.
Daryl chose Safe Sanctuary and Prepare for Disaster classes. I went to a Prayer Ministry class led by Nancy Horton, wife of our District Superintendent, and then a Community Garden class led by Terry Koehn, pastor of St. Paul's UMC, where I learned not only about creating a community garden but also made a pot out of newspaper and planted a bean seed. Will it grow is yet to be seen.
Daryl drove home again, I was still crocheting and drinking a last cup of Douwe Egberts decaf. We pulled into our driveway, Daryl got out and I moved into the driver's seat so I could go to school and finish the school newsletter.
It had been a really nice afternoon.
But then, when the newsletter was done, I went out to my car and discovered I didn't have my keys. Back in the library to search for them, they were nowhere to be found. I looked around the car and on the sidewalk but didn't find them there either. My purse with my spare keys was locked inside the car. I felt like crying. "How can I be so stupid?"
But then, when the newsletter was done, I went out to my car and discovered I didn't have my keys. Back in the library to search for them, they were nowhere to be found. I looked around the car and on the sidewalk but didn't find them there either. My purse with my spare keys was locked inside the car. I felt like crying. "How can I be so stupid?"
I was able to get perspective instead of having a melt down on the streets of Indiahoma. My car would be relatively safe in front of the school library and I was just two blocks from my house. It wasn't like the time I locked my keys in the car at a self-serve car wash. No keys, no phone, no money, no nothing. There weren't even any other people around. But that's another story.
I walked the two blocks to my house and searched through purses and counter tops to see if there might be a key somewhere. I did not find one anywhere.
Good grief! It was 8:00 on a Sunday night. I decided to call AAA to ask when they could send someone out. I had my account number written in my datebook (which thankfully wasn't in my purse) but not AAA's phone number. I called my daughter to check for the number on her AAA card (mine was in my wallet, in my purse, in my car). 1-800-AAA-HELP. I should have known that.
I called the number and talked to a really nice lady whose first response was, "Are you in a safe location?" I told her I was at home in my living room and she sounded genuinely relieved. She got my information and I expected her to tell me that they don't send people out to unlock cars on Sunday nights. Stupidity does have its drawbacks. But instead, she asked for the location of my car and said she'd have someone there soon. Really? I was surprised.
Good grief! It was 8:00 on a Sunday night. I decided to call AAA to ask when they could send someone out. I had my account number written in my datebook (which thankfully wasn't in my purse) but not AAA's phone number. I called my daughter to check for the number on her AAA card (mine was in my wallet, in my purse, in my car). 1-800-AAA-HELP. I should have known that.
I called the number and talked to a really nice lady whose first response was, "Are you in a safe location?" I told her I was at home in my living room and she sounded genuinely relieved. She got my information and I expected her to tell me that they don't send people out to unlock cars on Sunday nights. Stupidity does have its drawbacks. But instead, she asked for the location of my car and said she'd have someone there soon. Really? I was surprised.
Within an hour, I got a call from the rescue man saying he was getting close to Indiahoma and needed instructions on how to find my car. I gave him directions and then started walking. He pulled up next to my car when I was still 1/2 block away.
There were two guys. One used to play basketball for Tipton so he'd been to the school before. His helper attended Job Corps and we knew people in common. They had their car thief tool inside my window before I got to the car.
"Can you open your locked car door from the inside without unlocking it?"
"Yes."
10 seconds later he had my door open. What a relief. There were my keys, laying on the passenger seat. I must have dropped them when I picked up my school keys. Tipton boy got my AAA number and then headed back to Frederick via the base line. I DROVE home.
What seemed very traumatic just a couple of hours earlier was now resolved and everything back to normal. And no one called me stupid, except for me.
There were two guys. One used to play basketball for Tipton so he'd been to the school before. His helper attended Job Corps and we knew people in common. They had their car thief tool inside my window before I got to the car.
"Can you open your locked car door from the inside without unlocking it?"
"Yes."
10 seconds later he had my door open. What a relief. There were my keys, laying on the passenger seat. I must have dropped them when I picked up my school keys. Tipton boy got my AAA number and then headed back to Frederick via the base line. I DROVE home.
What seemed very traumatic just a couple of hours earlier was now resolved and everything back to normal. And no one called me stupid, except for me.
Have a blessed day knowing God's got your back.
Zeke Campfield from the Lawton Constitution came to school, interviewed the students, took pictures and wrote another fabulous article that appeared in the front page section of the December 28th newspaper. 
