The Curse

Friday I had a little adventure with our Honda Accord. The radiator hose burst, the car overheated and I spent a good few hours trying to remedy the situation and get the car home. It wasn't really that big of a deal to handle- thanks to good friends and family that help out in a pinch :) I think just a radiator fan is really the culprit and that is any easy enough fix. But the events of Friday have reminded me to blog about something in our family that I believe is a real force of nature; something that Harvard should study and document; something that I am sure can be proven with the right tests and studies. In the Bingham family we simply refer to it as "The Curse." (When I told Jacob I was writing about this he begged me to clarify it as The 'Bingham' Curse, because he wants no part of it ;) The Curse in question has to do with car trouble and how each of us is doomed to have car trouble follow us throughout life. While my family has seemingly escaped major trials when it comes to health problems, family drama, unemployement, inactivity in the church, or being born without senses of humor- the Curse seems to be our alotted trial in life. It all started with my Mom and Dad. I am convinced that with the union of my parents, the planets aligned, mountains were moved and there was the creation of the Curse- the vexing power of car trouble upon the Bingham Family. Over the years we have had just about any kind of car trouble imaginable it seems (and I do mean all of us- Mom, Dad, Dave, Chris, Me and Brian). Flat tires, fender benders, drooping headliners, dead batteries, missing mirrors, windows that don't roll up, windows that don't roll down, smoking engines, check engine lights that never go off, seatbelt latches that don't buckle, cracked engine blocks, accidents with each other (oh yes, my friend), lost hubcaps, overheating radiators, electrical failures, broken headlights, cracked windshields, faulty starters, defective transmissions, leaky sunroofs, horrible radios, faulty gagues, ripping upholstery- and that was all just last week! Ok, not really, but serioulsy, every single one of those items has been experienced. (The fact that we all have owned weird, used, cheap cars is not lost on me, by the way...) Another example of the curse in action is that several times when one of us has had car trouble and called someone else to come help, the rescue vehicle then breaks down on the way! Classic Curse. I had thought that by marrying into a non-curse family I could break this pattern, but days like Friday remind me that it may be too powerful to overcome. But I guess when faced with the alternative trials in life I could have had, I will take this one any day. I just have to be reminded of that fact once in a while.