The Keys Changed Hands
The Forbidden Word ChallengeThe Forbidden Word for this Challenge is Love.
This Week’s Prompt
Write a piece in which two people show they care for each other without using the word “love.”
I have chosen this one, since it’s my lifestory after my husband accident 3 years ago .
A long-married couple, where one partner quietly takes over a task the other used to do.
The Forbidden Word Challenge
The Keys Changed Hands
Great Minds Think – The Forbidden Word Challenge
For years, the car keys belonged to my husband.
Not officially, of course. I had my driving licence, and I could drive perfectly well.
I simply preferred not to.
“Do I really have to drive?” was probably one of my most frequently asked questions.
And most of the time, the answer was no.
My husband drove us everywhere.
Shopping, appointments, family outings, those little journeys that somehow become part of everyday life.
I sat in the passenger seat, watching the scenery, choosing the music, occasionally offering directions nobody had asked for.
Yes, I admit it.
I was spoiled.
Then, one day, everything changed.
An accident.
Hospitals.
A wheelchair.
And a future that suddenly looked nothing like the one we had imagined.
The car keys changed hands.
There was no ceremony.
No discussion about who would take over.
There were simply things that needed doing.
Hospital appointments.
Dialysis.
Shopping.
Collecting our daughters.
The ordinary journeys of everyday life that don’t stop just because your world has been turned upside down.
And there I was.
Behind the wheel.
I wish I could say I discovered a hidden passion for driving.
I didn’t.
I still don’t enjoy it.
Here on Fuerteventura, there are far too many road accidents. Every time I hear about another one, I’m reminded how quickly an ordinary journey can change someone’s life.
Sometimes I drive with my heart in my throat.
Both hands on the steering wheel.
Eyes watching everything.
The car in front.
The one behind.
The driver who thinks the speed limit is merely a suggestion.
And somewhere in the middle of all that concentration, I remember how easy it once was to sit beside my husband and simply enjoy the journey.
But life doesn’t always ask whether we’re ready.
Sometimes it just places the keys in our hands.
Our daughters have stepped in too, helping wherever they can.
We’ve learned to work together in ways we never imagined we would need to.
And my husband?
He has had to learn something perhaps even harder than driving.
He has had to sit in the passenger seat.
To accept help.
To watch someone else do the things he once did without a second thought.
I know that cannot be easy.
Sometimes I glance across at him.
He might be tired after dialysis, watching the road in silence.
Sometimes he offers directions.
Sometimes I remind him that I do, in fact, know where we’re going.
And sometimes we laugh.
Because even after everything, we are still us.
The roles may have changed.
The road may be different.
But we’re travelling it together.
And perhaps that’s what this week’s challenge is really about.
Not grand declarations.
Not flowers or expensive gifts.
But the quiet things we do when someone needs us.
The appointments we remember.
The shopping bags we carry.
The early mornings.
The exhausting afternoons.
The journeys we would rather not make.
And the simple act of reaching for the car keys, even when we’d much rather remain in the passenger seat.
I still don’t like driving.
I probably never will.
But when my husband needs to get somewhere, I pick up the keys.
Because sometimes the most important things we say to each other are never spoken aloud.
Sometimes they’re simply the miles we’re willing to travel.
— Maggie
With love, coffee, poetry, and stardust,
— Maggie The Afterlove Voice 💫
DJ Maggie in the house
https://ditto.fm/arena-51-the-calima-conspiracy-original-mix
https://ditto.fm/arena-51-the-calima-conspiracy-alien-invasion-remix
https://ditto.fm/silenced-but-not-broken
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