Bumps in the Road (and Why They Make the Best Chapters)

So here I am, sitting in a tiny diner, the kind of place where the pie is probably better than it has any right to be, and where the coffee is as strong as the people. My car battery? Charging itself on the other side of town. My partner? Sitting across from me, wearing the kind of grin usually reserved for winning the lottery.

“This is great!“ he declared with unembarrassed cheer, and promptly engaged the gentleman behind the counter — a man who, without much ado, revealed himself to be Bill. In a turn most agreeable (and rather sudden), he departed with this Mr. Bill, bound for Margerville, to acquire a battery, leaving me in the excellent company of strong coffee and the fine, if rustic, charms of the town.

It’s in moments like these — when you’re stranded, mildly inconvenienced, or downright frustrated — that you realize how much power you have. Not over the situation, but over the story you choose to tell yourself about it.

A broken car, a missed flight, a sudden downpour — they can all be plot twists or punchlines, depending on how you hold them. Supporting one another isn’t about fixing every problem, it’s about deciding together that even the rough patches can be romantic.

When we trade panic for patience, and worry for curiosity, we don’t just survive the bumps, we savor them. Because in the end, it’s not the missed flight or the dead batteries we remember, but the unexpected kindness, the impromptu diners, the grins across the table.

So next time life reroutes you, don’t rush to get back on the highway. Sit down, order the pie, and make it part of your story. Who knows? It might just become your favorite chapter