The Beach - Day 5

Bee Gees Song of the Day: Love You Inside and Out

Don't try to tell me it's all over
I can't hear a word, I can't hear a line
No man could love you more
and that's what I'm crying for
You can't change the way I feel, inside

I left off here:

I took out my notepad and started writing about the day. I offered up a few brief prayers that the kids would make it back without incident.

And I fell asleep.

That's where I last left off. Soundly asleep after a lovely day having spent time with my kids.

Time Stamp: 2:36 am, Wednesday August 15, 2007

My phone rings. "Mom. The car broke down."

"Where are you?" six and a half hours later, he was nowhere close.

"Just south of Washington DC. It's totally broken down Mom, I don't know what to do."

I was up and out of bed immediately. It eventually turned out alright. Fortunately, one of the kids had AAA. They got towed to a commuter lot where they slept in the car. When the woke up in the morning, they walked to a rental car agency, rented a car and got home. Old car junked, new car purchased. No one was hurt. Not getting back home in time for certain commitments caused a bit of a headache, but again, no one was hurt. They'll have a great road story to tell one day.

Point is, no parent wants to get that call. Nothing good comes out of a 2:30 am call from anyone. I've had three calls like that; the first was the worst. A 6am call from my mom saying that my dad was dead. No good. Second call was literally days after my ex had moved out of the state. 12:30 am, "Hello, Ma'am? This is the Montgomery County Sheriff's Office." I could feel the blood drain out of my body instantly. "EVERYTHING IS OK, but I have your 14 year old son here. He was loitering with some friends..." Nooooooo good at all. And then this 2:30 am. call. Had the kids been a little closer, I would have immediately gotten in the car and picked them up. My Uncle, who lived a half hour away from the kids offered to do that, bless him.

After that, the day was a relaxed one. I napped later in the morning, sat out on the deck slogging through "Wicked". The kids made it back to New York safely, which was a relief. I worked on a crossword with my cousin and then we all went out to dinner. The younger contingent were whisked off to an arcade and miniature golfing, I went back and had an early night. Ahhh, for the joys of vacation.

When one didn't have a knot in one's stomach with anxiety.