I was hectically running back to the house to grab a phone number I forgot when I saw the turtle on the two-lane highway. It first looked like a large rock, or roadkill from a mid-sized raccoon, but when I looked closer, I saw it was a huge turtle trying to cross the road during morning rush hour. I knew immediately that if someone didn’t intervene, this was not going to end good. So, I made a u turn and turned on my flashers, blocking the lane and temporarily preserving the life of the turtle.

When I stepped out to get a look, the two-foot-long turtle looked alive but not moving. Here’s the girl mom in me. Hmm. I better get a stick. What if its one of those snapping turtles? I could lose a finger. After finding a stick in the grass, I’m poking at its shell and thinking, maybe I have some gloves in the car? People are now driving around my car and looking at me like I’ve obviously gone insane.

A maroon Nissan stops on the other side of the road. My friend, Allison, mother of three boys, fearer of nothing that lurks in the mud. “Kara, what are you doing?” she asked, after she pulled onto the side and rolled down the window. Then she spotted the turtle.

I’m still standing in the road, deliberating on the best way to move the turtle. Maybe it would clamp down on the stick and I could just drag it across the highway? Maybe I could use the stick as a lever and slowly hoist it across the road?

Without a second thought, Allison throws her flashers on and joins me in the road. Before I have a chance to explain my ideas of how to move this enormous turtle without having to touch it, Allison reaches down, grabs the turtle by the sides of the shell and carries it across the road. Job complete. I’m dumbfounded as I realize that I was petrified of moving the turtle and Allison didn’t think twice about just picking it up. There’s the difference between girl moms and boy moms, I deal with tutus and glitter, she deals with dirt and creepy crawlers. Thanks, Allison. Mr. Turtle thanks you, too.