Stalling for time

1985. A beautiful relaxing Saturday afternoon. Husband D and I were on our way home from the store in his 1982 Ford F150 truck that ran like a top.

We lived at 86th Avenue and Cactus in Peoria, Arizona. It was very rural at that time. The corner of 85th and Cactus had only a four way stop. Farmland.

Southbound on 85th, we stopped at the stop sign at Cactus. D pushed the gas, but the truck didn't move. More gas, the engine roared, the truck shuddered but would not budge.

Then a very large car, perhaps a Cadillac or Lincoln (remember how big they were then?), flew through the intersection in front of us from the right. It had to be doing at least 80.

We sat in stunned silence. Finally D said, "You would have been dead."

You see, the car would have hit us on the passenger side.

Once we recovered, D pushed the gas and the truck breezed on without a burp or the slightest hesitation. We drove home in absolute silence. He drove that truck for another eight years without a bit of trouble.

Twenty-two years later D and I don't even discuss it, just "Remember 85th and Cactus?" A nod of heads and silence.

I was only 30 then, but I was imprinted that I was saved for some reason. Was I to touch a life?

As the years passed, by no means did I always do the right thing; I was often bad, rude and short tempered (human?), but I was "tuned in" and had a new awareness of my surroundings, that homeless person, the neighbor that needed help, perhaps a small act of kindness.

In 2000, I was again touched by His Hand; He placed me in a situation where I saved a young man's life.

It's still a mystery to me whether I've fulfilled whatever need I was saved for or if it's still ahead.

Marianne C.

Phoenix, AZ