Briefcase on the Kitchen Table

Do you all remember the simulator portion of Drivers Training? We all had that one we-thought-golden day on the simulator. You know, you are few weeks in to the course thinkin’ “All right, I have this thing down pat.” You are cruising right at the fake speed limit, gently tapping your fake brake, effortlessly flashing your fake blinker. It’s just you and the wide-open fake road. Then here she comes, out of nowhere, the little old lady who you swear is on the wrong side of the road. The sort of situation that leaves you staring at your instructor sputtering “Yeah right! No way would that actually happen! This isn’t even close to real!”

Well, Avery and I received one of those you-have-to-be-kidding-me moments just the other day. As most couples are immediately following their wedding, we were on cloud nine. We had just had the wedding of our dreams and had had an easy drive from northeastern Indiana down to St. Louis. We were moved in to our apartment, both getting excited to start school soon, but also glad to have a few days to begin leisurely putting away gifts. Life couldn’t get much better. But then there she came, down the wrong side of the road. On the fourth night in our new city, someone decided it would be a great idea to steal our car (the one we had just purchased the week before with state minimum car insurance because of its age), drive it up a light pole about a mile from the apartment, and then run away. First to this person or persons who stole the car; I am sorry you hit the light pole and I am sincerely hoping you are ok. Seeing as you walked away however I will assume you were at least okay shape (wish I could say the same for the car) in which case I would like to let you know; you suck. To many people in St. Louis; thank you for being so wonderful and helpful about our situation. In many ways we have seen both the best and the worst of St. Louis very quickly.

As for our marriage, it feels like we are passing our first “test”. If marriage is like an obstacle course it feels as though we are in the midst of pulling ourselves up over that big smooth wooden wall and we are sharing one rope; although neither of us like the position we have been put in we also both recognized very quickly that it was neither persons’ fault that we have to now figure out how to haul our butts to the other side of the wall with one rope; all we can do is help each other over it. Our focus now is just to get each other over to the other side of the wall and hope that maybe the next portion in this obstacle course is a calm stroll.