I'll try to be brief.
October 30, 2015
Our car registration was needing to be renewed and so we took it in to have it looked at. Much to our chagrin we found out that our, until that point, reliable 1993 Honda Accord did not pass inspection. The tires needed replacing (two of them and we already knew that) but we also found out that we needed to have the rear motor mount replaced/fixed. After taking it to a trusted mechanic friend of ours we learned that the repair would cost almost three times what our car was worth AND that we'd be hard pressed to find a mechanic willing to fix it because apparently it would take too long to fix. He even made some phone calls for us but the other mchanics he called said the same thing. So, we were in a pinch. We didn't have another car and so we reluctantly made the decision to apply for a very small auto loan. In the mean time, my parents were kind and let us borrow their car until our situation was resolved.
November 2015
(The dates all blend together)
November was...oi vey. Researching the best credit unions, applying for loans, researching cars that fit our loan restrictions (MUCH harder than we thought) and finally deciding on a car. It was a Friday, I don't remember which one, and we drove up to Sandy to test drive the car. It was glorious. Neil checked and rechecked just about every component possible without take the car apart and it drove like a dream. We felt really good about the car and so the next day we met the seller at the bank and made the purchase. We bought the car, a 2001 Honda Accord V6, for $2750! A steal right? We thought so and that was the price we had them come down to. Well, not quite 12 hours later, Neil was driving home from work and the car started lurching. And not just like, oooh gunned it too hard lurching either. The following Monday we made an appointment for the transmission to be inspected. We had to wait until Wednesday. But instead of having it done that day, we had to wait for a few days for them to take apart the transmission to see just what was wrong. After finding out that a rebuild would be the best option we gave them the green light to start. Unfortunately, in order to pay for the fix, we had to open a line of credit. About another week went by of hoping our car would be finished and finally we had it! In good running condition with a transmission that will probably last longer than the rest of the car.
That brings us to today.
We took my parents' car back to them tonight and had a lovely drive home. When we got back we found a gift on our doorstep. It was an envelope and all that was written on the front was "Merry Christmas, We Love You!" Inside the envelope was $100.
Neil and I were (and still are) gobsmacked. You only hear about this stuff happening but it never happens to you.
We don't know who you are and we don't know if you knew about our situation but we do know that we are so grateful for you, your love and your generosity. You've made our lives, and this Christmas season, a whole lot brighter. May the Lord shower innumerable blessings down on you and yours. Thank you, so much.
