Ain't no lighting

I don't believe that everything happens for a reason. However, there are some things that just cannot be ignored. 

Leo and I were relaxing in our living room during one of Milo's daily naps when we heard a clap of thunder; it sounded like lightning had struck right next to our house. How strange? The day was beautiful and sunny. 

I quickly peeked outside to see my neighbor and his friend in a car backing up in our shared driveway. I had heard loud noises come from this neighbor many times before and since the two men looked fine, I moved on with my life. 

A few minutes later, I heard a knock on our side door and opened it to find the friend looking up at me. He shamefully explained to me that he had hit my fence. He quickly apologized and offered to call someone to fix it right away. 

This was my brand new fence that I had just paid a company to put in less than a year ago. The fence was placed at the junction where the driveway splits for my side and my neighbor's side. Six feet tall and made of wood. The builders had secured the support posts with cement for they had intended for it to stay put for a long time. 

Well, the good news is that the cement did its job and tightly held the bottom portion of the post in place. The bad news is that the car hit the post so hard that the post exploded into three pieces. 

I felt as if I could laugh. How did this happen? And why was it so dramatic? The post exploded! 

The friend and I chatted. I explained that it was a new fence and he mentioned that he had heard the backup camera beeping and yet continued backing up. At that point, I also noticed that he had hit the support post right in the middle of his bumper. Right in the center! It wasn't like he just messed up a little. He was completely out of place.

I asked him if it was okay if I got a quote from the company that installed the fence and that I would get back to him later. He said that would be fine and gave me his phone number.

The following day I called the company and they said that they would have someone out to look at my situation in the next day or so. In the past, unresolved issues like this would have driven me crazy. However, I had complete peace.

Later that day I was journaling and felt like I needed to just let go of the fence. I felt like I needed to forgive my neighbor's friend and ask nothing of him. It was strange how at peace I felt about this.

The funny thing is it took me two days to build up the courage to ask my husband if this plan was okay with him. I wasn't afraid of what my husband would say, but rather I was feeling foolish at the thought of not having the man cover at least some of the cost. Money doesn't grow on trees and we had a kid to support.

When I finally talked to Leo, he wholeheartedly agreed so I called the friend right away. The man was so relieved and told me that if I ever needed anything in the future, he had my back.

Throughout this entire process, I felt complete peace. It was a strange feeling. And a part of me feels like this poor man hit my fence, not because of his own failures, but as a test for me. Somehow the friend hit my fence right in the middle of his bumper even with a backup camera warning him of danger. 

I like to think I passed the test. I chose to forgive and forget. I chose relationships over getting what I thought I deserved. And in the end my father-in-law blessed us with replacing the post for us at no cost (the fence company would have charged us over $500).