ISO Chauffeur

We have had a busy few weeks. December is always a crazy time for our family. Generally, we have at least four different family Christmas get-togethers. We enjoy each one, it just makes for a busy month.

The second-to-last Christmas had my Mom, Kiera and I traveling to Lancaster, Texas. If you do not know where that is, well, it's pretty stinkin' close to Dallas. Especially considering I do not care to drive on roads that have more than four lanes and/or have 23 different exit options.

Mom made plans to stay at her sister's house while Kiera and I made reservations for a hotel. Thankfully, we made it safely to Lancaster without a lot of me mumbling under my breath at exits.

We spent a few hours visiting with family before Kiera and I began the trek to our hotel. I had promised after we checked into our hotel that we would find a great Chinese restaurant for dinner.

I started to plug the address into my phone when I realized Kiera was sitting in the back seat. "Grandmommy is not coming with us if you want to ride up front." I stated to Kiera.

"No. It's ok. I'm good back here." She replied buckling her seat belt.

As I finished entering the address into the phone, I found myself wishing I could sit in the back seat too. Our hotel was a little closer to the Dallas area than I preferred. Not that there is anything wrong with Dallas... there's just too many lanes, vehicles, and exits for me.

For the first 10 minutes, I felt fairly confident with the drive. Then out of nowhere, cars began dodging in and out of traffic, not caring how close they were to my bumper or anyone else's. I tried not to white-knuckle the steering wheel and remember how to breathe.

Suddenly a police car came flying by with their lights flashing. I knew immediately that there had to be a wreck up ahead. Within five minutes, traffic was almost at a standstill. To be honest, I was actually ok with that for the first time in a really long time.

"In one mile, exit to blah-blah-blah." The GPS said.

We continued to inch along to our exit, Kiera perfectly content in the back seat.

I felt a sense of relief as we reached the exit and began to accelerate away from the chaotic mess. It didn't take long for my relief to plummet as I saw what rose in front of me.

"Look, baby," I said, hoping my voice didn't betray the fear I was feeling. "Look at this really, really tall bridge we are fixing to drive over."

"Wow!" Kiera responded. "That is really high!"

We began the climb, the butterflies in my stomach flying as fast as they could.

"Look over there!" Kiera exclaimed. "Way over there, you can see the police lights."

Without turning my head, I quickly flicked my eyes off to the left to see the faint flashing of police lights. My stomach dropped to my toes as it sunk in how high up in the air we were.

"Can you turn this song up?" Kiera asked.

I was thankful for two things at that moment. The first, that Kiera was unaware of how terrified I was driving over the bazillion foot tall bridge and the second was that the volume control for the radio was on my steering wheel. Without looking down, I turned the volume up one notch.

After what felt like a lifetime, we finally reached the bottom of the bridge and not long after, our hotel. I pulled into a parking spot, slid the car into park and breathed my first full breath in over thirty minutes.

"I think we will take an Uber to go out and eat." I calmly stated to Kiera. "I don't plan on driving anywhere until we have to leave in the morning."

We had so much fun that evening; experiencing our first Uber ride, new foods, and just overall spending time together.

The last few weeks have been a blessing. It has been wonderful to celebrate Christmas and the New Year with family and friends. I can't wait to see what 2020 brings. With any luck, maybe I'll even have my own chauffeur for next year's Dallas trip.

Rowonna McNeely her husband, Aaron are regular volunteers in the community, and have their hands full with their daughter, Kiera, along with three dogs and one cat.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.