Now that I’m 50, I had my first “senior moment”…
I walked out of the box store with my cart full of groceries. After starting down the wrong section of the parking lot, I corrected my course. While pushing the cart, I remembered when my sister Margo was still driving but dealing with effects of a brain tumor. She lost her short term memory and had several episodes of walking around parking lots looking for her car. I imagined how frustrating that would be.
A tall vehicle was blocking the view of my parking space, but I was startled to see a car pull into that space. Huh? My little old Subaru was parked in the slanted space directly in front of my original parking spot, the car now oriented opposite of all the cars around it.
Immediately a grin came to my face and I started scanning the parking lot for one of my young friends who I assumed moved my car as a prank. Certain names even came to mind! On the third swivel of my head a hand went out of a window across the way and a woman yelled a greeting. She bounded out of her truck and came over with a knowing look.
“Your car wasn’t in gear and tried to run me over! I was walking past it and it just bumped into me. I thought jerk! — but when I looked for the jerk driver, the car was empty. I started pushing my cart against the car to keep it from going farther but I was losing. I yelled to a guy and he helped me push the car back. He finally got in the car and engaged the emergency brake. That’s why your car is in a different space.”
She wasn’t the least bit belligerent; I apologized up one side and thanked her down the other. Yikes! I have never done that before in my life. That I’m aware of….
Trying to balance my reaction between a casual laugh and shrug and morbid “what ifs” – there was only one direction to go. Thankfulness. I’m thankful that a little toddler didn’t wander in front of the car; thankful that I didn’t need to leave notes on the late model car(s) in the next row; thankful that I was disabused of my notion that a practical joke had been played on me; thankful for the reminder that there are, ahem, gaps in my routine.
Great is Thy faithfulness.
A Living Pencil 
Oh, Carol! Praise God. I’m so glad the person was nice and understanding, too. I say, though, I’m also glad nothing like that happened to me when I turned 50 .
Oh.my.goodness, Carol!! I am so glad no one was hurt.
I have done something similar to that – getting out of the car BEFORE putting it into park. It rolled into the garage door and bounced! I wasnt even 40!!
Thank God no one was hurt and that everything was okay. Scary thoughts though of what MIGHT have happened. But then, we are not to think of those things, except that no doubt you will be thinking of it every time you park the car from now on.
Isn’t it a comfort to know God watches over us even when our minds are elsewhere? What a mighty God!
Love the title!!! And I have to tell you I spent a full FORTY-FIVE MINUTES looking for my car in the college parking lot yesterday!!!!! Oh, dear, we ARE on the downslide, aren’t we?
I love the title as well. hahahaha The reason they put those horn blasters on the key ring when you buy the car is for just such senior moments. I broke mine!
Oh my gracious! How sobering. I’ve done that (but was right there when the car started to wander) in my husband’s stick shift car forgetting that is wasn’t my automatic car.