Kill Me Now

It was not a great start to the evening.  I thought that since there was very little traffic on the road last night that my commute home would be a breeze.  I made it all the way down the I-95 in record time.  Never on a Monday at 4 PM would I be able make the 2o mile journey in less than a half an hour.  And then it all changed.

I felt the slight pull to the left on the van.  As I slowed to a stop I heard the distinct flapping of my front left tire.  After I pulled into the restaurant parking lot I got out and looked and my suspicions were confirmed.  A flat tire. 

It was cold, dark, damp and just beginning to rain.  It was not the makings of a story that would have a happy ending.  The one inconvenience that this minivan has it the location of the spare tire and where it is located.  It is located between the front and second row seats.  These are the main seats that my family all sits in.  As such, all of the kids junk/shit toys and stuff, as well as my laptop and lunchbox all had to be moved.  It was awkward to remove. 

In addition to all of this, as my regular readers know, I have been struggling with some type of affliction that the doctors have not been able to figure out as of yet.  This illness made me cough so hard I tore the cartilage between my ribs. 

Pulling out the spare left me in terrible pain.  I was nearly crying as I struggled to remove the spare from its hiding place.  You might wonder why would I put myself through this agony and not call someone like AAA.  The reason is, I had to pick up the kids and then take my daughter to Brownies.  I had an hour to do all of this.  AAA, while a very good service, is not known for it’s quickness.  That just leaves me, in pain, to deal with the flat.

Cold.  Dark.  Rain.  Pain.  Through all that I was able to change the tire and put the flat into the trunk, which was another struggle.  I made it to the daycare and picked up the kids.  Before I was even able to get them into the car I went into a coughing fit.  I was out in the rain coughing and trying to stop, trying to catch a breath, trying to stand, trying to keep from crying because of the rib pain.  My kids were scared and upset.  My son began to cry.  This attack may have been only 30 seconds but it seemed to last for nearly 10 minutes. 

I was able to finally get in my van and out of the rain where I sat trying to catch my breath.  I sucked up the pain and composed myself and then worked on calming the kids.  I assured them that I was OK and with that I took my daughter to Brownies. 

I am now in so much pain and discomfort that I just want to die now.  The doctor called me in this morning to do more X-rays and tests.  Who knows what they will find.  But whatever it is, I hope they figure it out soon.