We were driving back from our son's baseball game, on a little country highway in Kentucky, and, we saw blue lights up ahead.
It was a roadblock to check for seatbelts, registration and insurance.
Oh, and he asked me if I'd been drinking. (No sir! Just excited about a win.)
I wasn't expecting roadblocks. Then it hit me. It's Click It Or Ticket time.
Now through June 3rd, you can expect to see more troopers, police, deputies, etc.
In fact, our daughter said she saw troopers just about every mile on her drive from Hattiesburg to Mobile today. A drive which took her longer than it usually does. Just saying. Makes a difference when the cruise control is set on the speed limit, doesn't it?
As we head into Memorial Day weekend, be aware that this is not just for one week. It will continue after the holiday.
Of course, it's not about the money. It really isn't. It's about getting us to do what we already know we should do... buckle our seatbelts.
Let me tell you our story about seatbelts.
January: Our daughter had come into town for just the afternoon and was getting ready to drive back to Hattiesburg. I told her I'd meet her at the house after a quick stop at the Eastern Shore Chamber Business After Hours. There, I was sitting with two women I really hadn't met before and at one point, the conversation turned serious, as one woman asked the other about her daughter's surgery. Turns out both women had children who had survived horrific traffic accidents, and it scared me silly. I got a text that Becca was locked out of the house and excused myself from that conversation, rushing home to see her before she hit the road. She was tired and I wasn't happy that she was driving back. And I hugged her. Tight. I told her she'd just have to forgive me, but I needed to hold her after hearing the most horrible stories from those two women. I just needed her to promise she'd be safe. As I backed my car out of the driveway so she could leave, I told God I had done everything I knew to do and asked, "You got her, right?" Not the most formal of prayers, but absolutely the most effective.
Twenty minutes later, the phone rang. "Mama, call 911. Someone just took the rear end off my car in the tunnel."
A speeding driver totalled her car. But she was fine. Why? She buckled up. Which apparently wasn't something she was in the habit of doing. But there was something in the way I begged her to be safe that made her buckle up.
I don't want you to get a ticket. But more importantly, I don't want you to have a story that doesn't have a happy ending.
So buckle up, Buttercup. Please. Someone loves you.