Redemption

re·demp·tion (r-dmpshn)
n.
1. The act of redeeming or the condition of having been redeemed.
2. Recovery of something pawned or mortgaged.
3. The payment of an obligation, as a government's payment of the value of its bonds.
4. Deliverance upon payment of ransom; rescue.
5. Christianity Salvation from sin through Jesus's sacrifice.

Redeemed. Our sanity. Our night's rest. Sean's license to drive in the great state of Illinois. All redeemed. After hanging over our heads (and Sean's parent's) for nearly four months there is closure. The fine (a meager two George Washingtons) is paid. We are free. That's the end of the story...

here is the beginning . . .

Three years ago we sold our Honda Accord to a guy from the south side. He signed a $2500 cashier's cheque and drove off in the 1996 two door sedan we brought our oldest two kids home from the hospital in. In was bitter sweet, and weird... because we had listed our other vehicle in the paper, but he wanted this one instead. We decided quickly to sell, even for such a meager sum, and decided to become completely unencumbered of motor vehicles before moving across the planet.

Those days represent such a blur for me... breast feeding, packing, and wondering what a move of this magnitude would mean for us. We sold the car and continued on with the spreadsheet of items to check off before becoming Asia bound.

Skip ahead three years. Imagine it is New Year's Day (how's that for poignancy... not 24 hours into the new year, and we get an urgent e-mail from Becky in IL... she's collected our mail (a monthly ritual for the dregs of mail that still trickle into our rental home on 128 S. Canal.)

Imagine Becky's surprise, and ours, to learn that our vehicle was a violator of the Illinois tollway to the tune of $18,000 (or almost 6x what we sold the car for!!) The guy we sold the car to never registered the car (our fatal mistake being in the confusion of the sale, not to remove the plates!)Failure to pay the tolls, resulted in fines. Failure to pay the fines resulted in revocation of Sean's license!

For nearly four months we've been calling the IL tollway, the IL state police, the WI dept of motor vehicles... a run around, a hassle, a bain!

Last night Sean called the IL tollway yet again. They had received his information: the copy of cashier's check, a copy of the title (which had been fudged by the buyer.)

"Mr. Johnson we see that your documentation is in order. You owe $2."

They took plastic... over the phone.

Redemption. What a sweet reminder during this near-Easter season. The price is paid. The debt is clear. We are free.