Two Miracles – part 2 – The Complete Flake

Posted February 12, 2019

“I’ve been thinking,” Jen was saying, “about giving you my van.”

We were on our way in her 1995 GMC Vandura toward Sierra Vista, AZ, where we were going to pick up a rented U-Haul van for me to live in while I waited for the insurance payout on the van I had totaled two days earlier. Then, I would use it to search for a replacement for my trusty-but-now-deceased van, Dorothy.

I wasn’t sure I heard her right.

“What?” I said, stunned.

“It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” she replied. “I’ve been wanting to simplify my life, live on a bicycle and backpack for a while, and then get a minivan. This seems like the right time.”

I tried to process what she was saying

I’ve known Jen for several years but not very well. I heard stories about her from my close friend Linda May, and met her briefly a few times at vandweller gatherings. So, that she just came to Douglas to help me was already wonderful, but this? Too amazing to believe. I was afraid to get my hopes up.

“Why don’t we pull over somewhere and talk about this?” I suggested.

Jen brought the Manatee, her van, to a stop by the side of the road. I got out to give Scout a chance to pee, Jen a chance to think it over, and me a chance to clear my thoughts.

This was crazy and incredible

Please God, I thought as I waited for Scout to do her business, let it be true.

But it couldn’t be true. Jen was a free-spirited young artist and this van had been her home on the road for five years. People don’t just give their house away, not asking for anything in return. Do they?

Scout and I climbed back into the Manatee.

“Let’s find a place to eat,” said Jen, “and talk it over.”

She seemed to be trying to decide whether to go through with it. I was glad to see the indecision on her face because I wanted her to be absolutely sure of her choice. I couldn’t risk worrying that she might have regrets later.

We stopped at a small breakfast place in Bisbee, and talked over a basket of sweet potato fries. By the end of the conversation, it was decided. Dazed, I called U-Haul to cancel my reservation, and we headed back to the tow yard to get the rest of my stuff from poor Dorothy.

My beautiful new home and benefactor

It’s a week later

Scout and I are settling in to our new home. I can’t find anything, of course—it’s just the way it is when you move in a hurry—but I love it. And, funny thing, but it feels like the Universe was listening to all my complaints about Dorothy. She was a great van but there were things I wished for:

A high-top so I could stand up ✔
More living space so I could do yoga inside ✔
More solar power for my blender (green smoothies!) and my new fridge ✔
A Wave catalytic heater to keep us warm at night ✔
Lots of cubby holes and ways to hang my clothes and other stuff ✔
A flat floor. I can’t tell you how annoying it is to walk over the bars meant to hold seats that had been removed from Dorothy. Now, I might even get my dream bamboo floor installed. Someday.

Plus other stuff I wasn’t even hoping for, like:

A fancy, two-burner camp stove ✔
Two big propane tanks (saving a lot on butane) ✔
Most of all, no more car payments! ✔
An emergency fund (when the insurance pays out)!✔
And more I can’t remember right now ✔

The Manatee is an old van, 24 years old, so I will have to learn how to take good care of her, the way Jen has. It has new tires and a new transmission, so that’s good, but you never know when that emergency fund will come in handy.

Jen has suggested that when we transfer the title in a few days, we have a renaming ceremony. (I am open to suggestions!) And she painted this adorable picture of the Manatee exploring the desert.

See? Miracles do happen, sometimes twice in the same week.

New adventures forthcoming…

LaVonne Ellis

Former waitress, broadcaster, and book editor. Current writer, vandweller, and creative smartass. Ex-wife. Mom. Aging hippie with an itch to travel. Author of Green Card, The Red Feather Christmas Tree and Getting Sh*t Done.