I survived a car ride without a seat belt
Lessons on life and surviving the front seat from a time before the world got so careful.
Some of my most cherished memories are anchored in those summer treks from upstate New York to Vermont. My grandparents, Charles and Gerda Barber, would meet my mom and me halfway between Whitney Point, New York and Shoreham, Vermont to swap cars for the final leg of the trip. I can still see myself perched right in the middle, sitting on the center console between them for the drive along Route 22A. No car seat, no seatbelt, just a great time talking about the previous school year with my grandparents.
So, why would such a random memory pop into my head? I believe it is more than a loving memory I had of my grandparents. I think it may be specific to a yearning deep inside me to break free from the stifling safety culture we all live in. A memory of when I lived in a carefree era, when nobody got overly concerned about keeping a child in a car seat until they reached a certain weight or age. I sat in the front of my grandparent’s car (not even in a seat!) and at the time didn’t think anything of it. And I survived.
In John Eldredge’s book, “Wild at Heart,” he points out that ‘God created men to live a life of passion, freedom, and adventure.’ Oh, how quickly we can lose all three!
Who is ready to return to the life God created for them? It’s not too late.
