Potholes

 

Not too long ago, my son hit a really bad pothole and ruined a front tire. The pothole has since been repaired at least twice and keeps coming back in that same spot. Potholes are a fact of life on our nation's streets and highways. Here in Oklahoma, you have to constantly be on the lookout or you will hit a tire damaging pot hole every mile or so. I saw a nifty little truck the other day that pulls over a pothole, cleans it out and fixes the pothole mechanically. We need a lot more of these trucks running around. Most of the time I see a truck with a pile of asphalt in it and two guys with a shovel who fill the pothole, tamp it down and move on to the next one. The pothole goes from a hole to a bump at that point. I'd much rather have the small bump in the road!

My son only lives a couple of miles away and I have always sent him on his way from our house with a warning of "Watch out for those potholes!". I say it in jest, but when you think about it, it can be a statement for our journey through life. 

Throughout our lives we encounter potholes along the way. Some life potholes are small and are minor inconveniences such as a dropped coffee cup breaking on the floor, lost or damaged cell phone, the common cold, and other small irritations. Some life potholes are medium size such as a flat tire in an inconvenient place, an appliance that has gone out, a small illness, repairs on the house, and other medium size disruptions. Then, you have the large size life potholes that derail your life such as divorces, bankruptcies, car accidents, house fires, major illness or a family death. The small and medium potholes are a little jarring when you hit them but easily fade into the past. The large potholes are usually life changing. The potholes of life are much like those on the road, they are going to be there no matter what you do. 

My small life potholes have included things like dropping a gallon of milk, running out of gas for my lawnmower in the middle of mowing, dropping my favorite coffee mug and having it shatter in a million pieces, ripping my beltloop on my pants, etc. My medium size life potholes have included a dryer going out a couple of times and having to replace the rollers and belts, air conditioning going out in the heat of the summer, dealing with car repair after a minor fender bender, being bumped from a flight and many more. My large life potholes have been the death of my father in 1993, victim of the Federal Building Bombing in 1995, death of my mother in 2020 and several other deaths of friends and family members.  My wife hit a major life pothole a few weeks ago when she was told she has breast cancer. This one is a big one and all four tires were blown out and there is a lot of damage to repair. Of course, I'm a passenger in this deal but felt the hard impact when we hit this pothole. We will get through it and will get back on the life road again soon. 

The small and medium potholes are all 1st world problems. At least my potholes don't include hunger, abuse, unemployment or lack of housing. I'm very lucky to have suffered through very few large life potholes so far. None of us have a totally smooth ride through this life. We must all avoid the pothole that we can and do the best we can with those that we hit dead on.

The milk, coffee mugs, and pants can be bought again. Things can be repaired or replaced. The loss of friends and family can never be reversed. It is one of the things in life we all have to go through. In one of my last posts I talked about road signs. Wouldn't it be nice if we had some signs warning us about the life potholes! 

What life potholes have you hit in your life? How would you describe your small, medium and large life potholes? As I tell my son, "Watch out for those potholes!".