The Empty Space

This is a true story that I wrote in 2003. I decided to revise it and share it here. I think the message is still valuable; it helped me to read it again.

In November 2002, I wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving with my friends. I arranged to have dinner on the Saturday before Thanksgiving with three of my favorite women friends. When I called Tonya to confirm the time for dinner, she said, “Eva and I would like to see the movie ‘Freda’, about an artist.” 

I said, “I don’t know anything about it, but I’ll talk to Eva and Nina and see if we can arrange to see the movie and have dinner.”

When I called Eva, she was excited that we might want to see the movie also and she checked the times at a theater in San Leandro. She called a few days later to say, “The movie is playing at 4:10 at the Bay Fair Theater.” 

We agreed to meet at the theater. I offered to drive Nina in my car; Tonya and Eva drove in their own cars and met us there. After the movie, we walked out to find our cars so we could drive to Castro Valley for dinner. Nina and I walked to the area where I had parked my car. As we were searching for it, Nina saw Tonya driving down the row of parked cars. Nina got into Tonya’s car, and they drove over to pick me up. I told Tonya, “I’m sure I parked my car near here.”

Tonya said, “Get in and we’ll drive around to find your car.” 

We drove up and down the rows, and as we passed the area again where I was sure I’d left my car I said, “That empty space is where I’m sure I parked my car. But it’s not there now.”

Finally, it was clear that my car was gone. We had to decide what to do next. I was grateful that Tonya had still been driving through the parking area when Nina and I needed her. We considered going back to the theater to find a police officer. 

Tonya said, “Somehow we need to let Eva know that there is a problem. She’ll be waiting for us at the restaurant.” 

My cell phone was in my car, which was now gone, so there was no way for me to call Eva. I said, “Let’s go to the restaurant and tell her what happened, and then I’ll contact the police.” 

Nina commented, “Bonnie, you seem fairly calm on the outside, but I wonder what you’re really feeling inside.”

I was not able to say much about that, because I felt rather numb at the time. I simply considered the immediate need to find a solution to my current problem.

As we drove to Castro Valley, Tonya suggested taking me home because Nina and I live close to the restaurant. We dropped Nina off to explain what was happening to Eva, and then Tonya drove me home to get my insurance papers and car registration so that I could tell the police what the license plate was.

After dinner, Tonya drove me home, and I made some calls. Eventually I got through to the San Leandro Police. They told me I needed to come to the police station to report the theft. Nina drove me to San Leandro, and I reported the car stolen.

The next week was difficult for me. It began to really register what I lost when my car was stolen. Monday morning I got a call from the San Leandro police. They said the Oakland police found my car and it was in a towing garage in Oakland. Nina gave me a ride, and I paid to get my car out of storage. When I took it to my repairman in Castro Valley to get the smog certificate in order to renew the DMV registration, he discovered that the reverse gear was gone. I could not get the car to go backward, only forward. I drove it home and decided to leave it parked in front of the house. I felt it was not safe to drive a car that could not be backed up.

Now what? It was a quiet time for my business, and I was able to rearrange my schedule to stay home that week. I was taking care of my friend Bobbi’s dogs while she was on vacation in Florida. Fortunately, she lived nearby. When she sent email from Florida, I told her my car was stolen. She asked me if I wanted to drive her second car, a Gold Mercedes. I said, “Yes!” I didn’t know where her keys were though, and so I waited until she returned from Florida.

Bobbi was very generous to allow me to continue driving her car, until I arranged a year later to buy if from her. It fascinates me now to consider that experience and the lessons to be learned from it. For many years, I wanted a Gold Mercedes. I didn’t think I could afford to buy one. Several people said to me, “You really don’t want a Mercedes. They are very expensive to repair.” I usually ignored these comments, and felt it was okay for me to want it anyway.

Shortly before my car was stolen, I decided to shift my thoughts. Rather than saying, “I can’t afford it”, I began to ask “How can I afford it?” It seems to me that I got my answer!

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. In this case, it was gold!

Reviews

[Poets Soul]

You took something negative and made a positive out of it. Now that is a happy ending. I enjoyed the write. PS

[SamBug]

This was a great story!!! is this true??? I liked it. It was good.