1994 Ford Econoline

Sunday, March 30, was a nice day for a change. The weather was finally warming up after a winter of rain, snow and cold. The beginning of Spring had sneaked by on the calendar and we were waiting for more physical evidence of it. So the sun was shining on Sunday. Lucy and I were at church in Fredericksburg, Ohio which is 37 miles from home. I felt good about the day.

I have a 1994 Ford Econoline E150 van with a wheelchair lift (for picture see October 21, 2007)and I started turning it around to let Lucy get on in her power wheelchair. Something snapped in the van's steering mechanism and when I straightened out the steering wheel it snapped again. So what happened?

Not knowing too much about the details of some parts of the auto mechanics I went by what was happening after that—I could still steer, but there was something different about it while driving. There was more play in the steering wheel so I drove slower to the next destination—the Farmer Boy Restaurant in Wooster, about 10 miles away. When we arrived there, I looked underneath at all the grime and rust on the front axle but didn’t know what I was looking for, so after a nice meal of pork and sauerkraut for me, and a large salad for Lucy, we continued on home, another 40 miles. Route 30 west is a fairly straight run so I wasn’t worried about turning any sharp corners. I just didn’t want to lose the ability to steer and I drove slower, taking my time to get home in one piece. (Slower meant driving 55 mph. I usually drive 65.) After all, if I broke down, Lucy wouldn’t be able to ride in just any car—unless she abandoned her wheelchair. I also noticed that the steering wheel was not in the same position while driving on a straight run. God help us.

We finally arrived home and I breathed a sigh of relief. I would definitely have to get the van checked out in a day or two.

On Tuesday I got up early and planned to drive it to Monro auto mechanics. I had a fleeting thought that I would meet someone rather significant there. I drove it into town about 10 miles away to get serviced. This time there were turns to negotiate and I was careful to take it slowly. I thought there was even more play in the steering wheel, which was not good. I arrived at the service station and went straight into the parking lot and carefully parked it in front of the service bays.

I got out and headed for the service area and waiting room. A man inside, who later introduced himself as Gary, saw me approaching on crutches and he opened the door for me. He was quite conversational and we introduced ourselves to each other. He was also a customer and waiting for service on his car. Jim, the service tech, had already been alerted about my problem and he told me he would look at the van soon.

Gary and I talked meanwhile. I had never met him before but we had a lot to talk about. At one point I glanced out the window and noticed that they were moving my van and I idly wondered why it was just sitting in the middle between where I parked it, and the building. I couldn't see the whole scene so I didn't pay any more attention.

Later Jim walked in from the service area and, placing his hands on the service desk said, “Wes, you are blessed! The steering is gone completely. It took a couple of us to bring the van into the building. There are four bolts on the gear box and three of them are sheared off. The only way you had the ability to steer was by the one bolt left on and now that is broken too.” Later on he told me he couldn’t see how I was able to steer at all with the damage that had been done. He never saw anything like that before.

I would have loved to just junk the van and get another one, or at least trade it in for another one but, financially it was not feasible at this point. It would have to be fixed if possible. I called Lucy and told her the news and she was agreeable to getting it fixed. There had been a few problems with it recently but I had put quite a bit of money into getting it fixed up so we can try to get a few more hundred miles (or thousands) out of it. Jim gave an estimate on it; at least it was a lot cheaper than getting a new vehicle. Gary, sitting by and waiting for his own car to be worked on, told me it couldn’t be fixed in a day and offered to take me home. I gratefully agreed and he told Jim to not bother working on his car today, he would take me home.

Gary was retired and had been a faithful customer for years because he trusted Jim to do a good job on his vehicles. He didn’t have any emergency need for repair and was willing to accommodate me in my need for a ride home. We had a lot to talk about because of our similar backgrounds and it was a godsend all around for the circumstances to play out as they did.

Thank you God for the protection you afforded us.