On Monday, July 25, after I received the call from Mom about the accident, I dropped my lunch companion off at her house and headed for the highway. Of course, the “low tire pressure” light flashed on my Fusion console. I briefly considered driving on to Columbia with the light on but I decided to stop at the Casey’s to fill up the low tire. The only problem was that I didn’t know where the air pump was located at the Casey’s on 151st Street. A quick cruise through the parking lot did not offer any signs to help me out in my search. On the second pass through the parking lot I found the pump. I topped off the offending tire and hit the highway.
The only reason this is of note is because this tire and I have been on an ongoing battle of wills with the correct pressure levels. I’ve had the tire checked twice and both times I was assured that all was well with the tire. On this day I did not need that tire to be a problem. I’m writing this post on Sunday night, two weeks after the accident, and my low tire pressure light came on again. I’d completely forgotten about the tire and the light I know that life go
es on after the death of a loved one but I’m not ready for this new normal. Usually I call my Dad about car stuff. He was the kind of guy who “knew a guy” who could fix my cars. Or you could describe the symptoms of the problem and he could diagnose the solution with just a phone call. I remember well the time I called him about a problem with my minivan. I described the problem Dad diagnosed it as a malfunction in the starter and told me where to take, who to ask for and about how much it should cost.
Now I’ll take my car to the shop and get my tire fixed without his input. I probably have not needed his input on car stuff for a long time. The routine of calling him and talking about car stuff with Dad will not happen again. Thank you, Dad, for all you have taught me about cars, life and love.
Shelly Speaks Up 
Shelly, I know this blog is really about your dad and not the low tire pressure. And ou really don’t need my advice, but I’m offering my experience anyway. if those are the original tires on your vehicle, I suggest you get a set of new tires all around (maybe a mid range price). I was having similar experience with a new to me used car and I got tired of it because I never knew whether it was the same old low pressure thing or whether I really had a nail in the tire or some other issue that might be dangerous… I got a set of new tires and no more problem. I’ve had them almost a year and only once and that was recently have I had a low tire light come on.
As to the Dad thing, missing a dad, I thought of you yesterday when out of the blue, something the preacher said sent me into a bit of tears and grief at loosing my dad. Our circumstances are very different. Mine was not there for me and left the family when I was about 11 without saying goodbye. He died in Jun of 1977. I’m not sure I even knew when he died. I’m the family genealogist so I have had to research much of what I know about him and my grief has been complicated. His wife’s family did not know that he had children. Not only didn’t I call him for things, but most of the time I wouldn’t have known where to call him. But he was the nurturing parent. And I recognized that for me he was a source of presence, safety, warmth, comfort … an anchor and at 69 I still miss that presence, that anchor as bad as everything else was those other things are such losses in our lives. Not all dads are that, but this one was. So tires roll on and grief as well. The longer we live with it the more it has to teach us… I really do hope someone is there for you as a pastor, as an ear, as a heart companion for this journey.
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