One Lucky Man

Two weeks ago today Jay bought a "new" car. Not brand new but new to us. The decision came about to trade in his already paid for automobile when it began to have transmission issues. We were faced with a dilemma: shell out the money for the work and have to keep the car several more years or take on another car payment (my car has around 1 year left). He wanted to take the route of the buying. While I didn't want another car payment, I also didn't want the car to break down on his commute to or from work either. He drives long rural, curvy roads with little or no shoulder and in the dark. And I also didn't want to pay for a transmission, either. We were faced with a choice of pay now or later but we would definitely pay. Since he works for an auto body shop at a car dealership we chose to go through them and purchase from one of the many the guy owns. Over the past several years he's worked in different areas of the car industry and we've now purchased our last three cars from his last three employers. He came home two Friday's ago with his pretty, shiny toy filled with more bells and whistles than we've ever had on something with wheels. When he told me that his rear view and side mirrors dimmed and the side mirrors also have their own defrost I officially labeled him "spoiled."
The next day we were at my parents house dropping the kids off to attend a church pizza party with them. Their across the street neighbor and long time friend told my mom that he was now proud of us since we had the pretty new car. Without missing a beat Jay replies. "Be proud of us for the way we raise our sons not for the car I drive." This is why I love that man. For him things are still just things. It's a car. A mode of transportation and nothing more. It doesn't represent something we should be praised for.
A couple days ago I hit the interstate for my lovely morning commute when my phone rang. Jay never calls me that time of the morning. "I had a wreck," he said. Earlier in the morning it had rained. Rain no longer fell but the streets were still wet. He swore he wasn't speeding. He rounded a curve on the rural road he travels when he says he found himself spinning in the middle of road; almost like a hand reached down and spun the car. He never hit the breaks, didn't have any control, and all he could do was watch and anticipate where he would land. The car came to a rest about four feet from a telephone pole after sliding over the curb. The police officer later joked that he did a great parallel parking job. Jay found himself stuck in the mud and unsure of what sort of damage happened under the car. This is where he called me while waiting on the police and tow truck. But he came out unscathed. So, I went onto work and waited to hear what the damage was on the barely week old car.
His company's tow driver came out and pulled the car out of the mud pit. Back at the shop and cleaned they found a few scrapes on the underside of the side and bumpers...and that was it. No need to file an insurance claim. We only had to pay for the tow and the guy who looked the car over and realigned the tires.
I'm considering banning him from driving on wet streets. The last wreck he had (before CJ) happened on wet streets. He hydroplaned into oncoming traffic and was hit head-on. He walked away from that too. The car was totalled and he shouldn't have been able to walk away from that. Someone upstairs was definitely watching out for Jay. So many other variables that if had occurred would change this story entirely but lucky for us he's one lucky man.