This I Believe, that when people care about others it makes the world more connected and a better place to live. My family and I were on the road to Indiana to visit my extended family for Thanksgiving in 2012. We were a family of five, with 3 car seats traveling 12 plus hours for Thanksgiving. Along the ride we learned many valuable lessons about life. We had just left the smelly, crowded and loud, in fact extremely loud Great Wolf Lodge in Sandusky, Ohio to head towards our cousins house in Syracuse, IN. Within fifteen minutes of the ride I slid to the side of my seat to find out that we were stopping at a gas station. My dad dashed into the building. Little did we all know that he had food poisoning from our breakfast at the Great Wolf Lodge. At this point we were stopping every five minutes as my mom was driving now. I quietly, in a whispered voice said “we are never going to have Thanksgiving!” About an hour into the road the sky began to turn darker. Heavier gray clouds rolled in and they had cast a shadow onto our car. Bam! The buckets fell! This was the most rain Ohio had seen in years. It was a monsoon! Due to the massive amount of rain we had to slow down to avoid collision. Our car was filled with anxiousness to get to Syracuse. I was just waiting for the rain to stop and ready to pull into the driveway of my cousins house. Next thing I know the wheels of our car decide to pull off on the side of the road. I think to myself, what is going on, now what can be happening? UGH! I am just worried that we are never going to get to have Thanksgiving. Our car has broken down and now we have to get a tow truck to take us to the dealership. The highway patrol was quick to respond in the still pouring rain and they blocked a major interstate to keep us safe. They also called a courtesy van to take my mom, brothers, and I to the dealership. The buckets were still falling. The van driver and policemen helped move three kids and car seats into the van, which didn’t have a working side door at the time. Ugh! I had to ride with the door open up the interstate! Finally, after what had felt like a million years the wet car pulls into the parking lot and we all frantically pile out into the building. I mosied in next to my mom and brothers and slumped down into my chair. The place smelled disgusting like a rotten tomato. I felt like we were never going to leave this place. Minutes turned into hours and it just kept going. Finally the men that were working on our car had come out to talk to my tired sick and miserable dad. I just knew that we were going to need to get a new car. Which I would love but my dad would not. They had told us that because we were in such a terrible situation they would stay late into their Thanksgiving break to help my family out. These men and women stayed several hours to repair our car, while their families were enjoying the start of Thanksgiving. We were so grateful and blessed by what was happening. We even ordered pizza for the whole staff because they were so nice to us. Eventually we get to my cousins house for Thanksgiving…a day late. Throughout the trip I learned that being caring, kind, and generous to others will pay off and help you to be a better person in life. The people who were working in the dealership were such nice people and made my family really happy while we were on this super long trip. You never know what people are going through so it is always a good idea to be caring to others.
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