“You never really know the true quality of someone’s character until the road gets rocky.”
Thursday night I got home from work & school and I was SUPER TIRED. I came home, showered, called to tell Tay that I was going to bed and did just that. At 11:12pm that night, my grandma passed. I had my phone on Do Not Disturb and my family couldn’t reach me. They called Tay to try to find me and he told Keyla that I had a long week and just needed to rest. He asked her to let me sleep and to just tell me the bad news in the morning. Strangely, I woke up in the middle of the night, called my sister to find out what happened and immediately called him. He let me cry & vent, and sent me encouraging scriptures and messages every few hours.
A few nice words can help a person a lot more than you think.
Determined to be with my family immediately, I packed and hopped on the road as fast as I could. I was about three hours into my drive when my ABS & battery light came on. I immediately pulled over to a gas station, only to learn that my alternator went out.
It was dark. I was by myself in a small town in VA and was distraught. I couldn’t think straight and cried every single tear that my body could produce. Panicking, I called roadside assistance, informed them of the issues that I was having & was told that a towing company would be to my rescue shortly. The tow company arrived and told me that they would give me a jump, but they were too tired to tow me anywhere that was not within the city limits. They packed up their equipment, told me to call roadside assistance again & left me STRANDED!
At this point, I was crying. The operator on the phone could barely understand what I was saying. I caught my breath, told the lady that I was afraid and to dispatch another towing service to me. I didn’t know how I was going to get home or if I was ever going to get home at this point. I called my mama, like most girls do, but she was more discombobulated than I was and was making me more upset than I already was. During this time, Tay texted me and told me that he called Quandre’ (who was an hour and a half away) to come pick me up from my location.
Now, why didn’t I think of that?
Despite having to wait inside of a gas station with all of my belongings for an hour, Tay stayed on the phone with me the entire time and tried his best to keep me in good spirits.
Once Quandre’ finally arrived to me, I asked him when was he planning to go home and I wish ya’ll could see the disappointment on my face when he said, “sometime tomorrow.” Tay and I were on the phone and he asked when was Quandre’ coming to SC, I told him sometime tomorrow and I guess he felt sorry for me. Without me knowing, this boy jumped in his car at 10:30pm and drove FIVE AND A HALF HOURS from Columbia, SC to get me from Quandre’ in Elizabeth City, NC. At 3am, we got in the car and he drove FIVE AND A HALF HOURS back to SC that same night.
A TOTAL OF ELEVEN HOURS IN ONE NIGHT, YA’LL JUST FOR ME! LITTLE OLE ME. He did not let me drive and only stopped at a rest stop for three minutes to close his eyes.
We got to SC about 9am Saturday morning and Tay told me that he would be to the funeral as long as it wasn’t on Thursday (he had to speak at USC). Now anyone who knows Tay knows that he NEVER misses school, so he caught me totally off guard with that comment. The funeral was decided for Thursday and he was upset because he couldn’t be there. I told him that he had already done enough and didn’t need to worry about it. However, that wasn’t enough for him. He called me on Tuesday and told me that he was taking off Wednesday to spend time with me. Again, I thought this was a joke, but he’s always been a man of his word. He came home Tuesday night with handwritten sympathy cards from each of his students and two strawberry shortcakes that his mama made. On Wednesday he came to pick me up, took me to see Black Panther, fed me, and just made the entire day about me.
The mirror of a man’s heart is his actions.
While this week has been a difficult one, it has truly opened my eyes to a lot of things, but especially the fact that good men exist. Ladies I’ve learned that you do not have to beg a MAN who really loves you to show you love because he will. You won’t have to ask them to be there for you because they will. And you won’t have to tell him to do anything because he will, all WITHOUT YOU ASKING! Love yourself, know your worth and don’t settle until you find that man!
Peace. Love. Hennessy. <3