The months of February to April are eventful around our house. Back-to-back, we have Valentine’s Day, Faith’s birthday, Mothers’ Day, Koa’s Birthday, Easter, and our anniversary. It’s a lot to remember, and a lot of flowers to buy.
Last Friday, my lovely wife turned – well, let’s just say she’s still in her “early 30s.” As is usually the case on her birthday, I planned a day of “funtivities.”
This year those included breakfast at McDonald’s (she likes it, I promise), a walk in the country, an afternoon tea and cake break, and finally – a babysitter so we could go out for grown-up drinks.
At least, that was the plan. Things started to go awry at around 4:30pm, when we arrived at the cafe I had chosen for cake just as chairs were being put on top of tables. Who closes a cafe at 4:30?? Ah well, spirits remained high, and we decided to cut our losses and head to Waitrose for a free cup of tea and a bit of cake. We knew it would definitely be open.
It was all going very smoothly – we were drinking our free hot beverages and enjoying a nice bun – when I heard our vehicle registration number being called over the loudspeaker. We went to the customer service desk to find out what the message was about, only to be met with a rather serious looking manager who told us not to worry, but there had been a “serious collision” in the car park involving our car. How serious can a collision be if your car is parked in a car park? Quite serious, it turns out, when an elderly lady hits the accelerator instead of the break and crashes through two bollards, runs down a tree ripping the steel girder from around it, and smashes into your family car, knocking it five metres out of its space.
Yep, our 2004 Meriva is no more. It was a sad day – and waiting till 10pm for the RAC at Waitrose was not the way I wanted to spend my wife’s birthday evening. But I’m thinking of making it up to her by upgrading her to a 2007 Meriva.
