Holy Cow Exploding Sunroof

Dee’s car
Gigi The White Ant
2000 Toyota Avalon
262,000+ miles
No sunroof

Dad’s car
The Highlander
2013 Toyota Avalon
22,000 miles
Sunroof

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January 2013
Caraway Retreat Center
Introduced to a new game: iAssociate
The weekend changed my life

June 2013
Mom’s 70th Birthday Party
Mom given a nice gift: mini iPad
Dee introduces mom to iAssociate

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July 2014

Remember that time you were driving 70mph down Interstate 95 and your sunroof exploded?

Friend: Holy cow! Are you guys okay?

Me: Yes. It sounded like an exploding gun! We looked at each other like, “What was that?!” The car was driving fine, so I didn’t think it was a tire. The windshield was in tact. The roof was in tact. But then I heard a wind sound from above, so I cracked the sunroof lid and saw glass shards. I said, “The sunroof exploded!” Then we heard little pieces of glass flying behind us. Mom said, “We should have taken your car!”

Friend: Holy cow!!!

Me: Yeh. I was just driving along. Mom and I were trying to think of a seven letter word associated with both “golf” and “green” that started with B. We later figured out it was bunker. Ha. We were playing iAssociate.

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So what does one do when one’s sunroof explodes?

Wonder no longer:
• Clean up the glass shards as soon as possible. If you are able to go home, then go home and use the shop-vac that you should have either in your garage or somewhere where you can easily access it. Every home should have a shop-vac. If you are on a long road trip, then heed your brother’s advice and find a gas station with a pay-as-you-go vacuum cleaner. Chip off and get rid of as many loose pieces of glass as you can. Be careful not to cut your hand. If you cut your hand, use your car’s first-aid kit to tend your wound.
• Park your car under a carport or in a garage if possible. If not, cover the gaping hole in your car’s head with a tarp or plastic table cloth in case of rain, tropical storm/hurricane, or climbing cat. Secure the cover in the doors of your vehicle.
• Do not contact the car dealership. Though this is becoming a growing problem, car companies are not treating this as an issue for recall or factory fix. Instead, contact your insurance company and file a glass claim.
• Be prepared to pay your deductible directly to your insurance company. Most companies will accept most major credit or debit cards. Then be grateful that you have insurance because the total price of sunroof replacement is at least $1000. Also be prepared with a mom or a psychic to answer your dad’s insurance company security questions in case your dad is in Armenia and has absolutely no idea that his sunroof has exploded and that he has filed a claim.
• Follow your insurance company’s procedures for glass replacement. For example: after fifty minutes on the phone, Matt from Michigan connected me with a lovely sunroof replacement shop in Jacksonville. He over-night shipped the glass piece to James from Jacksonville and James from Jacksonville replaced the sunroof in fifteen minutes. He said that he replaces 7-10 busted sunroofs per month. His coverage area is from Savannah, GA to Gainsville, FL. Both Matt from Michigan and James from Jacksonville were very friendly and lovely to work with. Hope that you are able to work such helpful people during your sunroof explosion emergency.

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The Highlander is officially out of the bunker, folks.

But holy cow.

I am now quite afraid of sunroofs and
glad that Gigi The White Ant does not have one and
more grateful than ever to have the
ability, opportunity, resources, support, and freedom to
fix what I know to be a first-world problem
in a society where there are ever increasing third-world needs.

A Breathing Road Trip

I made a road trip over the weekend. I drove to Jacksonville, Florida, both to visit my grandmother who is in rehab and to spend Mother’s Day with my mom who was visiting her mother who is in rehab. In preparation for the trip, I purchased three new audio books. The book I chose to listen to first was, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier,” by Ishmael Beah…

Shortly arriving in Jacksonville on Saturday, I went to the rehabilitation center where my grandmother is staying. After walking to the far end of the center, I arrived in her room to see her sitting in her wheelchair smiling at me, her hair flat on her head. In my 33 years of life, G-mama has never worn her hair flat on her head! It startled me at first because it made her look so different, yet I like it. I think the style looks very good on her.

G-mama is sharing a room with a woman named Dolly. If you’ve ever read, “The Shack,” then picture the image of God that the author portrays and you will have a pretty good physical image of Dolly. Dolly is a 76 year old African American woman who has emphysema. There is nothing that can be done for her, yet she is living the remainder of her days as well as she can—being the teacher that she inevitably was and mentoring church members on how to teach children various Bible studies and books of the Bible when asked. Dolly has a stockpile of graham crackers and other food in her bottom drawer, and she loves to eat. Today before I left, after G-mama commented that she wasn’t hungry, Dolly said, “I look forward to the day when I’m not hungry. I clean my plate every meal and then usually look for more!”

Dolly almost died last night. Her family had come to visit for Mother’s Day and they had taken her outside for a visit. When she got back to the room, she couldn’t catch her breath. After using her inhaler and beginning a nebulizer treatment, she still couldn’t breathe. She called for the nurse and he immediately came to help her. I don’t know what he did because he pulled the curtains for privacy. Whatever it was, he helped her pull through, and she and G-mama passed the night together in their room.

Watching Dolly try to breathe was painful--even when she wasn't having an emergency. Her not being able to catch her breath made me grateful that I could. I think of dreams from which I’ve awoken gasping for breath and I imagine how frightening it must feel not to be able to breathe in the very breath that gives us life…

As I listened to my book today, I frowned in horror as I heard the story of soldiers purposefully burying their enemies alive. I imagine how awful it must have been for the prisoners not to be able to breathe…and I find myself taking deep, deep breaths…maybe like you are doing now.

In the beginning, God breathed life into this world. It was God’s breath that brought life to humankind and it is that same breath that sustains us today. May we never take this breath of life for granted and may we use each breath of our lives to be present in things that really matter…like road trips to see our grandmothers and mothers and doing what we can to make them smile.