To the Rescue

Dear Readers,

A couple days ago, my family and I were driving on our way to Vail for a ski trip, switching off who played the next song and taking in the beautiful snow-topped mountains outside the window. All of a sudden, we heard a bumping noise and realized that our tire was going to pop.

My dad quickly pulled over to the side of the highway with trucks passing by us quickly. Our car sat in icy snow on a curve where cars could barely see us as they turned around the corner. My dad got out of the car and quickly realized that we could not put on the spare tire because the car was too big.

We called Triple AAA and a man on the phone tried to gauge our location, but he sounded confused and our texts to him sharing our location did not seem to give him enough clarity. As we called a couple of different numbers and tried to get help, a random man in a tow truck pulled up behind us, got out of his car, and asked us if we needed help. We told him that we were stuck, and he offered to tow our car.

It was too unsafe for us to get out of the car on the icy highway, so we stayed in the car as he towed it. I kept saying “we should try to uber” and tried to think of other possibilities so that we didn’t have to stay in the car, but in this moment, we realized the safest option was simply to stay put and trust this man.

Once we were lifted, he began driving the truck and we sat in the car with no control over this drive. We put our hands in the air and played country music, praying we would make it there in one piece. We even started joking and laughing to make light of the situation. Sometimes all you can do is laugh.

We ended up making it there safely, thanks to this man. If it weren’t for him, we would have been stranded on the side of the highway.

The interesting part is that we had been trying to call people and thinking of other solutions that were not successful, but the man that helped us simply appeared out of nowhere. We did not need to force him, but once he appeared, we trusted him.

I was scared, but I strangely felt safe at the same time. Once I realized that I could not control this situation, I learned to let go and surrender.

I knew that one wrong turn or mishap could potentially end our lives as we drove on icy roads lifted on this tow truck, but I simply had to trust that the man driving would take control and lead us on our way.

I think that sometimes in life, we have to learn to let go and trust. We come to realize that many aspects of life are out of our control. The only thing we can control is ourselves, and we can trust a higher power.

I know that not everyone is religious, but for me, I find it comforting to trust that G-d (or some higher power) is watching over us and has some sort of plan. There may be a reason for why life plays out the way it does, and having faith and trusting this can give us some ease.

I do not think that we should always sit back and just let life happen to us, but I do think that in certain situations, we have to surrender and let life play out naturally.

Sometimes, G-d sends people or events your way unexpectedly and you’re not always sure why, but you often learn from them and find that they came into your life for a reason.

It is okay to surrender sometimes. Learn to let go and trust. You may just end up exactly where you are meant to be.

Love,

Samantha