Will and I jump into the Q45 and following Carrie's directions, we rush to the scene where the Le Baron is still in the middle of a major thoroughfare, waiting to be towed to the Chrysler dealership where it had been purchased and serviced for years.
After parking in the lot, adjacent to the Whataburger from which Carrie'd called us, we hurry toward Barry and hug our son and his friend close. I mean really, this close call came much too soon after Barry and Steven had been in a car that rolled.
So, you tell me ...
Are parents paranoid when fearing for their children's safety, or
By the time we reach middle age
Have most adults experienced enough close calls of their own to say:
'There by the grace of God go I' ... suggesting
Lady Luck plays a role in determining longevity of life ...
Anyway, as soon as we've hugged and before Barry begins to relate his latest experience with OMG—you won't believe what happened, tonight! ... I look at the hood of the car and say, Geez ... what happened, did it melt?
This question flies out of my mouth, because in addition to being blackened, the hood is dented all over the place.
In answer to my question, Barry says ... "Mom, you're not going to believe what happened! Here we are, stopped at this light, when suddenly flames shoot out of the hood. So Carrie and I leap out of the car, and I stay here while she runs into the Whataburger to call the fire department and you. While Carrie is making the calls, two winos stumble out of that bar, over there, and eying the fire, they stagger toward me. As you can see, this neighborhood is far from affluent, and an old tire was lying on that empty lot. So one of the winos gets it, and before I have a clue about what he's up to, he's smashing it up and down against the hood of the car, so I say: Hey man—what the heck are you doing? Without missing a beat, the guy who's smashing the hood slurs out this reply: What da ya think I'm doin' ... I'm tryin' to put out the fire! Since both of these dudes are drunk out of their minds, and the car is already a mess, I decide to shut up and wait for the fire department and police. Pretty soon, the dude doing the smashing is yelling, because he's burned his hands. Then we hear sirens getting louder by the second, causing both guys to look so alarmed that one says to the other let's beat it before the cops start askin' questions. At this, they wish me well and run off in the opposite direction of wherever the sirens are coming from, and I figure they must have some reason for not wanting to identify themselves.
Though Will and I feel stunned, we can't stop laughing along with Barry and
Carrie, mostly from comic relief that these precious, young adults are standing before us, utterly unharmed.
While Barry and Carrie finish with the firemen and the cops, Will and I watch the car being hooked up in readiness to be towed to the dealership. Then we all pile into The Q, drop Carrie off at her house, and head for home.
Once again, we all go to bed, emotionally drained, thanking our lucky stars that all's well that ends well ... and when Will and Barry go from lot to lot, looking for a car until they get a steal of a deal on the dealer owned, electric blue Celica that replaces the Le Baron, which needless to say is totaled, not one word of frustration is heard about adding money to the insurance payoff to buy yet another car. :)
I don't know if you remember back to the beginning of this story, but we've finally come full circle from the post where I described Barry's phone call to say: Mom, I just flew back to D.C. after visiting Steven in Atlanta, and I'm calling to tell you that sibling rivalry is alive and well—it took three days for me to tell my brother that I liked his brand new red Honda Prelude that he got from you and Dad for his college graduation.
And now you know that our family tradition of gifting our sons with cars as each one graduated from college began with spontaneous combustion, resulting in a drunken dude, smashing dents into the Le Baron's hood with burning rubber :)
Last week, while reminiscing with youngest son
I listened to an earful of teen-age shenanigans
Concerning David, his buds and the Le Baron
Once again, high school stories from hell caused
My defense system to shiver to think of
That which kids consider fun
And in order to shake my mind free of fear
My intelligence said:
Thank God what's past is past, and hopefully ...
As each of us continues to move from one stage of life to the next
An ever-deepening sense of mindful maturity lies ahead of us all ...
Curious as to what David revealed?
Tune in for LE BARON CONVERTIBLE ... EGG MOBIL ...
Coming up next ...
After parking in the lot, adjacent to the Whataburger from which Carrie'd called us, we hurry toward Barry and hug our son and his friend close. I mean really, this close call came much too soon after Barry and Steven had been in a car that rolled.
So, you tell me ...
Are parents paranoid when fearing for their children's safety, or
By the time we reach middle age
Have most adults experienced enough close calls of their own to say:
'There by the grace of God go I' ... suggesting
Lady Luck plays a role in determining longevity of life ...
Anyway, as soon as we've hugged and before Barry begins to relate his latest experience with OMG—you won't believe what happened, tonight! ... I look at the hood of the car and say, Geez ... what happened, did it melt?
This question flies out of my mouth, because in addition to being blackened, the hood is dented all over the place.
In answer to my question, Barry says ... "Mom, you're not going to believe what happened! Here we are, stopped at this light, when suddenly flames shoot out of the hood. So Carrie and I leap out of the car, and I stay here while she runs into the Whataburger to call the fire department and you. While Carrie is making the calls, two winos stumble out of that bar, over there, and eying the fire, they stagger toward me. As you can see, this neighborhood is far from affluent, and an old tire was lying on that empty lot. So one of the winos gets it, and before I have a clue about what he's up to, he's smashing it up and down against the hood of the car, so I say: Hey man—what the heck are you doing? Without missing a beat, the guy who's smashing the hood slurs out this reply: What da ya think I'm doin' ... I'm tryin' to put out the fire! Since both of these dudes are drunk out of their minds, and the car is already a mess, I decide to shut up and wait for the fire department and police. Pretty soon, the dude doing the smashing is yelling, because he's burned his hands. Then we hear sirens getting louder by the second, causing both guys to look so alarmed that one says to the other let's beat it before the cops start askin' questions. At this, they wish me well and run off in the opposite direction of wherever the sirens are coming from, and I figure they must have some reason for not wanting to identify themselves.
Though Will and I feel stunned, we can't stop laughing along with Barry and
Carrie, mostly from comic relief that these precious, young adults are standing before us, utterly unharmed.
While Barry and Carrie finish with the firemen and the cops, Will and I watch the car being hooked up in readiness to be towed to the dealership. Then we all pile into The Q, drop Carrie off at her house, and head for home.
Once again, we all go to bed, emotionally drained, thanking our lucky stars that all's well that ends well ... and when Will and Barry go from lot to lot, looking for a car until they get a steal of a deal on the dealer owned, electric blue Celica that replaces the Le Baron, which needless to say is totaled, not one word of frustration is heard about adding money to the insurance payoff to buy yet another car. :)
I don't know if you remember back to the beginning of this story, but we've finally come full circle from the post where I described Barry's phone call to say: Mom, I just flew back to D.C. after visiting Steven in Atlanta, and I'm calling to tell you that sibling rivalry is alive and well—it took three days for me to tell my brother that I liked his brand new red Honda Prelude that he got from you and Dad for his college graduation.
And now you know that our family tradition of gifting our sons with cars as each one graduated from college began with spontaneous combustion, resulting in a drunken dude, smashing dents into the Le Baron's hood with burning rubber :)
Last week, while reminiscing with youngest son
I listened to an earful of teen-age shenanigans
Concerning David, his buds and the Le Baron
Once again, high school stories from hell caused
My defense system to shiver to think of
That which kids consider fun
And in order to shake my mind free of fear
My intelligence said:
Thank God what's past is past, and hopefully ...
As each of us continues to move from one stage of life to the next
An ever-deepening sense of mindful maturity lies ahead of us all ...
Curious as to what David revealed?
Tune in for LE BARON CONVERTIBLE ... EGG MOBIL ...
Coming up next ...
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