On the Road

One last ride.  I spent the day crisscrossing the east valley.  I met a number of very interesting people and enjoyed their company.  But as it turned out I am grateful that I changed my mind and decided to take one last ride.  I picked up a man not far from where I live but the trip involved about a 25-mile ride to the very very outer edges of Queen Creek.  He was probably in his late 50s and was extremely engaging.  After he told me about a lawsuit that he has against the prison system I knew that I was transporting a once incarcerated criminal.  The lawsuit was against prison guards who according to his story, beat him up when they found a weapon on his.  That is his version and I wouldn’t have even considered arguing about his rights or theirs!  But this wasn’t my last ride.  I dropped him off and decided to turn off the ride ap and head home.  As I was getting back into the edge of Gilbert, I decided that I would go ahead and take one more passenger so I turned it back on.  Within a minute I had a job offer.  What an interesting trip that became and I was so grateful that I got to meet a most impressive and positive woman.  She was in a wheel chair and had just recently been released from the hospital.  Her leg was missing from just above the knee as a result of a car accident.  A lady ran through a light and hit her and her red motorcycle.  After helping her put her 0xygen tank, bag and her in the back seat she asked, “Are you LDS?”  I was!  She told me she had prayed when she finished her appointment that someone really nice would be her driver back to her house.  Thus, my impression to take one last ride!  After getting her wheelchair in the back of my car I was enthralled by one story after another.  I honestly hated to have the trip come to an end.  She had been a police officer in New York.  She was just ending maternity leave when she was called to go as a medic on a domestic dispute call with the police.  They had been told that a man had pushed his pregnant wife down the stairs and was barricaded in the house.  As she was getting into her car, she said a voice told her to put her bullet proof vest on but she thought that she was only going in after everything was secured so she hesitated.  Again, the voice told her to get her vest and put it on.  She then put on the vest and headed to the call.  After receiving the all clear that the suspect was secured, she entered with her partner.  Apparently, the man wasn’t secured and within seconds he shot her and her partner.  Her shot was directly at her heart which knocked her back.  He then went over to her and aimed at her head.  She said she prayed that Heavenly Father would help her and then the mans hand started shaking and the gun fired into her abdomen area.  She survived but her career was over as a result of the wounds from the gun shot.   Two months later her husband passed away from terminal cancer.  She then took her children and moved to Mesa.  This was just one of the fascinating stories she shared.  Once we arrived at her home I met her husband who was once a Rabbi, and then a Baptist, and after meeting and falling in love with her he became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  And now you understand why I was so grateful that I took one last ride!