Savor the Moment.

California Love

Over the summer I helped my ex-boyfriend Eric move from Seattle, Washington to Irvine California. For those of you who don't know, that's one long ass-drive. Although the trip through Washington and Oregon were beautiful, California left much to be desired. Into our 10th hour, the alternator in Eric's car failed, and we were stranded in the Californian desert mountains, at 3 am on Sunday morning, near Weed CA. Weed California is a lovely town of less than 20,000 inhabitants, and we lost power about 16 miles away, in some shady rest stop for truckers on their way to Las Vegas.

As the night got colder (in California, go figure I would freeze in Cali) we bunkered down to wait for dawn, light, and hopefully an answer to our problems. As the sun came over the mountain peaks, light flooded the valley, and revealed to us the great expanses of... emptiness.

My heart sunk. We had another 8 hours of driving ahead of us, and a deadline to meet. (Eric had to check into his apartment complex before the office closed to get his keys.) After hours of disappointing attempts to enlist some help, two Christian missionaries confronted Eric about our problems. They saw the mass of tools strewn about the parking lot (Eric had all his tools - he was moving after all) and wanted to aid us in our time of need.

I am usually not one for missionaries from any faith, as I find most of them overbearing and unable to tolerate diversity amongst God's children - but these two were different. They lead a life based on love, on learning and opening their hearts. They took Eric on a 100 mile roundtrip journey looking for a replacement battery, and then a replacement alternator. Taking time out of their lives to help strangers, they reminded me that there is still good in this world. Still people willing to help each other, learn from each other... They only asked us to help others while in need, and spend some time in thoughtful prayer (in the faith we found most comforting).

Those two missionaries are solid examples of the character I hope to possess. To be able to look through my creature comforts, time schedules and deadlines, and come to someone else's aid in their time of need. To be selfless, and realize that life is more than material wealth, a successful carreer, an obession with consumption. I aspire to such a humble nature, and try to remember their selfless acts as one of my life’s greatest lessons.

They may only remember us as two crazy kids on the road to L.A. But to us, they are and will always be angels, the greatest examples of when religion gets it right.

Eric and I made it to Irvine (in South California) 9 hours later than scheduled at around 11:52 pm. We unpacked that night, took showers and collapased exhusted - happy to at least be in a warm bed instead of the roadside. It wasn't the most fun of experiances I've had, but as I told him then, "Someday, this will be funny. It'll make a good story and thus be worth our pains, trails and tribulations."