One thing I can always count on is my husband telling me to make sure I have gas in my car. He says it so much that my response is usually the automatic, “I will.” That seems to satisfy him and we move on to the next topic.

On Sept. 2 I told my husband I had to go to South Hill to run an errand. As always he reminds me to check the gas and, as always, I automatically say, “I will.” Unfortunately I got in the car and hurried off to South Hill without making sure I had a full tank. Earlier in the week I was frequently making trips to Blackstone and Farmville to take care of business and didn’t realize my gas was extremely low, which would prove to be a huge mistake. Back to the story.

I drove to South Hill happy as can be and handled my business. On the way back to Victoria I turned on the radio, started singing at the top of my lungs and proclaimed today was a fantastic day. I had this awesome feeling all the way to Kenbridge until I turned on Route 40, a road with no gas stations.

My car started sputtering and acting really strange. “What in the world is going on” I said out loud. I happened to look down and wouldn’t you know it, I was out of gas. All I could see was my husband’s face as he said to me, “Make sure you have gas.” I clutched my pearls and started praying, ‘Oh Jesus, please let me have enough gas to get home.” But I guess Jesus figured this was a lesson I needed to learn because my car conked out, leaving me terrified.

A young man helped me push (he did all the pushing) my car to the side of the road and then I called my husband for assistance. I had to wait about 30 minutes for him and my nephew to get there with enough gas to make it to the gas station. I already knew what he was going to say once he got there — and he didn’t disappoint. “Mary, you know you should have checked your tank before you left.” We filled up the tank and went home.

A couple of days later I had to go to Walmart to pick up a few things. My husband said, “Make sure you have enough gas in the car.” I automatically said, “I will.”

Mary Simmons can be reached at aboxoflovekvd@gmail.com