Gary Potter

So one blustery night, Tami and I went to Todd's basketball game at Unity Christian High School.  It was a big night for Todd, because it was the first game that he got to start, and we all knew he deserved it, obviously.  Anyway, this was back when I drove the ice skate of a car called the Saturn, and this little thing did not get a long with snow & ice.  We were pulling away after a gut wrenching game...I cannot remember the exact outcome, but I am almost positive that Todd fouled out.  Tami and I had brought Emilee and Janelle to the game with us, and we were headed out to the car to go home.  Unfortunately, during the game the roads had become super slick.  As we slowly creeped out of our parking spot and started to drive, the car in front of us decided to stop.  I hit the brakes and we just kept on moving, it was as if it were in slow motion.  I slid, and slid and slid...slowly and barely tapping the car that had stopped in front of me.  I got out and of course got yelled at.  I can only imagine what was going through Tami's mind, she probably had her hand on her seat belt getting ready to come to my rescue, she was a bad ass like that.  Anyway, the driver and I exchanged information and we went on our way.  I got a phone call the next day while I was in class from the man who's car I had tapped and he said his name was Gary Potter.  I laughed out loud, and all I could think of was how much it must have sucked for him when Harry Potter came out.  Tami and I had plenty of laughs at the expense of this guy's name.  It was usually a topic whenever we got into the Saturn because the minimal damage to my plastic bumper was definitely not on my list of priorities when it came to shelling out money for things, so the bumper stayed in that condition until the day the car met its end.  Tami would always make fun of me about the Gary Potter situation, but I stood my ground that I was not doing anything wrong, it was totally and completely the road conditions, but she still gave me crap about it all the time. That was the thing about Tami, you knew she loved you, but sometimes questioned it based on how much crap she gave you.  However, you were quickly reassured of how important you were to her when someone else started giving you a hard time, because whether you needed her help or not she was right there to jump all over that person for talking about her sister, friend, mom, cousin, dog...she was so protective of her loved ones and I know that she is going to continue to love and protect us all from a far.  She is a guardian angel for each and every one of us and I could not have picked a better one!