Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Don't Get Lost Like I Did

Getting lost proved to be as easy as getting in the car for me. I've heard it's a pretty common problem for widows at first. I, myself, got lost two times too many after Bruce died.

The first time was trying to find our lawyer's office. It was on a main road, I knew the general area, I'd been there before, but this time all those office buildings looked the same! Did I bring the address or phone number with me? No, I truly thought it'd be easy to find! I started to sweat--I mean, I really didn't recognize anything. Near panic set in--frantic questions about my sanity screamed in my mind! Like a scared rabbit I zipped home, rescheduled the appointment, mapquested the address and printed out the directions for next time (no GPS back then).

Then I got lost going to a girlfriend's house. I'd only been there once before, but you just turned the corner, and her house was on the right, right? Except--at that corner, I couldn't remember--was I supposed to turn right or left? And when I did turn, there were four houses on the right! Which one was hers? I was truly clueless! This time I didn't have to give up and go home though. She saw me driving up and down the street like an idiot, so she opened her front door and waved me in.

I realized how dependent I'd been on my husband to get us to the right place. I'd never paid much attention to where we were going when he drove--and he drove most of the time. What a luxury to be a passenger!

I now mapquest and GPS everything when I drive alone. Directions are a good thing to get OCD about. I never want to get myself lost again.

Keep these things in your car, even if you have a GPS:
Cell phone--FULLY CHARGED
Addresses and phone numbers for your destinations
Emergency phone numbers
Local maps

Did you have any trouble finding your way around after your husband died too? I hope to hear from you! To tell about your experience and advice click the comments below and type in the box....
ferree

4 comments:

  1. I have always been terrible with directions. The first thing I did after Bob died was to buy a GPS. The next thing was for me to learn how to figure out what the directions meant and then to trust that voice instead of panicking. I realized that it was a lot like me listening to God and following His directions.

    Candy

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    Replies
    1. Hi Candy, I thought I was pretty good at directions until I encountered the widow brain fog! Double trouble---I wasn't techno enough to know that such a thing as a GPS even existed. But now me and "Olivia" (yes, I named that GPS voice) are BFFs. You're right though, sometimes its a hard thing to trust! But I'm glad to know God's more reliable than my "Olivia."

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  2. Oh I had to laugh as I read todays blog. I swear I have a form of dyslexia when it comes to directions and finding my way. I have gotten lost most of my life...I will be going somewhere I have been dozens of time and then all of a sudden there is a huge blank on how to get from A to
    B. Over the years I have learned to just go with the flow - keep driving until something looks familiar or follow my "instincts" which have helped. My husband on the other had, was always oriented to the compass points, and I swear he carried a 3 dimensional map in his head. He never got lost on the land or the sea. And I bless the dear man for insisting that I had to pay attention to landmarks, and that I know how to read a map. So the todays post was like it was written by me...and brought laughter along with some sweet memories of my dear husband, say rather sternly "Now Linda, you are an intelligent woman, you have to do this"...oh how I love him and miss him. And how blessed to have had him in my life for 45 years.

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  3. And your comment was just for me I think! What a good man you were married to, and what wonderful times to be thankful for! You gave me a grin and a spring to my step today Linda. Now to see if I can find my way to the grocery store. lol

    ReplyDelete

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