Zen Tow

This is from my breast-cancer group rowing coach, used with permission. She's now in South Africa but will be back soon. And in two years plans to row around the world.

Tonight I left practice to attend CRU practice in Skokie (the new coaching job I took so I can do ROW full time), and on the way there I kept thinking about what a beautiful night it was....and how I'm so blessed to finally have the opportunity to do something I love for a living--and how I just got off the water...and the practice was great, and I felt like I could really help them as a team, and then I thought about Monday night and how amazing it was....and blah blah blah, heart was full and I was smiles all around.

Then my car went crazy and wouldn't accelerate--and all the lights started flashing and I had to pull off the road because it wouldn't continue. So I stopped, and pulled over. I started freaking out because it wouldn't start--and of course a million things start running through my mind. Mostly worrying about money (which is so stupid), about how I was going to pay for any repair to my car with leaving my job and taking a pay cut to do ROW (I just found out great news though--I'm totally eligible for food stamps!!! :) -- anyway-- I got really upset. The tow truck comes by and he goes to start my car--and it turned right over! So we laugh about how I could have done something silly with the gas or something like that. So I get in the car again, he gives me his card (I find out his name is Zee) and I thank him for being so nice and patient. I start driving down the highway again and it stops in the middle of the expressway--just before the Diversey exit, there's cars going 60 mph all around me. Everyone is honking and going crazy, I'm freaking out and trying to get my car to start again. I tried for about 5 minutes. I call Zee--he says he'll be there in ten minutes. I'm not going to last ten minutes! It's crazy--semis are freaking out I keep trying--it finally turns over. So I get off the highway as fast as I can (at the Ogden exit) and the car stops, again. So I call Zee, I'm in tears, scared and feel like a total GIRL at this point.

Zee comes to pick me up and he sees I'm upset. He asks me why I'm upset, I said "I just quit my job and I can't afford to fix anything and...." he asks me, "why did you quit your job?" and I said, "to do something I love", and he says "Jenn, you have no good excuse to be crying right now"....the tow truck man from HEAVEN! So he tows my car to a place up north I know and trust but they're lot is full and I can't leave my car there so he drives me all around the city--we spend an hour and a half in the car together. He tells me his life story--about how his mom just had a mastectomy and how she is battling cancer. I tell him about ROW, we talk about life and how it's so funny--that you can get so upset about the stupidest things and that here I am freaking out--when I'm healthy, and happy--and I love what I do. I get to help people and wake up and enjoy my job every day (starting Monday!). He told me about how he used to work for Jiffy Lube and how he started this towing business because he wanted to help people (which I never would have thought about that way). We talked about how it takes guts to do something you love--that you have to believe in yourself and take a leap. We both commended one another for being brave in our entrepreneurial pursuits--I'm telling you--a real heart to heart--who knew? He told me more about his mom and we talked about how breast cancer touches everyone. Everyone! When we got to my house, I was better off that I started (well, without a car), but I was so thankful for him and the two hours in his truck. I don't know what's wrong with my car--but I'll try to get it in tomorrow...and that's all I can do!

I invited Zee and his mom to join us at our fundraiser in September as our guests--I hope that he comes!! Anyway--I'm sitting here crying because I'm so happy that I had something happen that made me see what really matters--and that everything is going to be okay. You can't plan everything and you can't control everything-and life is too short to hold on to everything that doesn't matter--especially too short to spend any energy worrying about things so much you can't see the big picture right in front of your face.