GOING & COMING ( AND COMING & GOING ) !
The year was 1983 (or thereabouts) .
Jim and Leslie had crammed the luggage and their 3 kids, Joey (8 years), Danny(6) and Kaci-Anne(4) into the family wagon and were on their way to the vacation mecca of everything that is decent and American.
DISNEYWORLD!
They had gotten out of Michigan , completed Ohio, and were well into Kentucky when Jim began to have misgivings.
The kids were acting up. “Acting up” is a polite phrase for attempting to murder one another. It began with Joey and Danny. They had gotten fed up with sitting still, all crammed together with Kaci-Anne on the rear seat. They imagined some extra space due them was being robbed by the other and proceeded to strangle one another . This particular behavior is a form of insanity closely related to “cabin fever” . Many parents are familiar with this. Leslie recognized the symptoms immediately and administered the ‘antidote’, telling the boys there were sandwiches in the cooler. This indeed soothed their savage souls, at least for a while. Actually, Jim was pretty good at psychology himself. He mentioned very quickly, and with much volume, that the trip could very easily be aborted by simply turning the car around and going home. Of course, all these “cures” were temporary and soon the yelling and violence had returned. The insanity was infectious and Jim was beginning to feel the urge to become physically involved. But he kept his cool and simply yelled, “That’s it ! No more !! If I hear one more scream or one more peep out of any of you …we go home! NOT ONE PEEP. PERIOD !!!”. The following 5 or 10 minutes of silence was like a godsend.
Then … the scream.
It was Kaci-Anne this time, now sobbing uncontrollably. Jim looked in the rear view mirror for a quick evaluation of 3 faces. Kaci at one end crying. Joey at the other end, looking nervous. And Danny in the middle (next to Kaci) , hands folded neatly in his lap, eyes rolled slightly heavenly. A lovely smile on his face. Anyone who didn’t know Danny would have said he looked angelic! With much effort, Jim suppressed all instincts to react and drove on silently. Kaci got control of herself and soon the car was quiet once again. When the next exit became available, Jim swerved in and turning the vehicle Northward, he re- entered the freeway in the opposite direction. They were going home. No one spoke. The seconds dragged into minutes and when a full quarter hour had passed, Jim began to get nervous. His revenge was now satiated. He wanted to turn around again. But how? What would be his excuse?! If only one of the kids would do a speech. Or a promise of good behavior. An apology. That would be fine!
Finally, Joe’s gentle voice broke the silence. “Dad ..….come on…….”. “Good enough!”, thought Jim to himself and without further conversation or incident the the quest for Disneyworld was resumed.
They arrived quietly and safely at the Magic Kingdom and experienced many wonderful things. A week passed and they were coming home again. Really coming home. The trip was peaceful. Everyone was exhausted. They were going thru Kentucky again. A feeling of satisfaction drifted throughout Jim’s mind. Everyone had had a good time. Just a matter of getting home safely now. Kids sleeping. Leslie looked at the gas gauge which had sunk to near empty and suggested that they needed to stop to refuel. They were entering the outskirts of a town with frequent exits. No real danger of running out of gas. In fact the very next exit had a sign for gas and they arrived at the station within a couple minutes. With the tank filled, the sleepy troop was soon back on the freeway and quietly humming homeward. Jim began reminiscing about the Disney World Haunted Mansion. How’d they get that ghost in there between him and Kaci?! That was really neat!! His quiet reverie was shattered by a seemingly alarmed Leslie. “WHERE’S JOE??!” ‘Huh? …Where’s Joe??? What kinda’ question is THAT?’ thought Jim. ‘Where the hell do you think he is?! He’s right here in the … in the …. YIKES!’ After several head counts of the 2 children in the car and a quick “process of elimination” Jim finally realized that Joey was not in the car! Jim was speechless but managed to sputter, “Well, where the heck IS he?! He was here a while ago!”. “The gas station!!” yelled Leslie. “Turn around . Go back!!”. “Go back??! Go back where?!! Where ARE we??! What EXIT did we get OFF at??!” Of course no one knew ANY of those answers and they had to rely on God to guide them back to that very gas station, ..… which he did perfectly. What a welcome sight driving up to Joey, sitting there on the curb, waiting patiently for his absent minded family to return. Sitting there, in his bare feet, in that little town, …on that little hill in Kentucky! When Joey was safely back in the vehicle, both parents silently counted the children (as if one of them might have gotten away again!) and for the final time, the car turned around and headed, (once again) for home. And yes, they eventually arrived home and had nice dreams that night.
The End.
Wal shut mah mouth. What’a nice homey little story! I’m surprised a dog didn’t jump in their car at that last stop in Kentucky and adopt them!! Actually, that reminds me of the time Joey almost adopted a big Brown Bear in Northern Michigan. But that’s ANOTHER story!
“GOING AND COMING (AND COMING
& GOING)”
Site last updated
Tuesday November 20, 2007.
Copyright © Canovanogram Industries Inc. 2004. All rights
reserved. http://www.canovan.com No part of this site may be reproduced or used without the written permission of the Owner. |
