Adults held children while running and screaming in all directions.
Horror on their faces signaled an unmistakable accident.
Uniformed fair staff and guards gathered everyone to safe zones.
A day of carnival treats and rides; now, the scene of a devastating tragedy.
Shock and terror paralyzed me.
I’d declined my friends request that morning to chaperone her son, my daughter’s friend, to the fair. With six kids to monitor, I couldn’t manage more.
A round-a-bout chair ride suddenly stopped causing the chain to sever her sons’ leg.
Amusement parks were off our activities list from that day forward.
Nah, you know his wife, Clarice, is a bitch. She wouldn’t call us.
We’re dirt in her eyes. You remember the faces she’d make when we’d be together talking and she’d walk into the cafeteria. She’s a real control freak. She thinks every woman wants her man.
Like, I remember the time we were doing the construction job on 5th Avenue. Ladies passing by dressed in those designer clothes; spiked heels; hair flowing in the wind. She’d come by to bring Jimmy some lunch.
Remember?
She evil eyed those women. Gave me a look like I had cancer.
Fear will do that to a woman. You know she’s jealous of any woman looking his way.
Jimmy got a bum rap. He could’ve had Jeanna. Now, that was a good-looking chick.
“Yeah, I sure hope he survives the fall,” Marco said.
If you’d like to read part 1 of this story click here ….
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Stunned and a bit battered from the car rockin’ and rollin’, we took a minute to breathe and regroup.
My husband began to try to get the car alarm to stop. He didn’t have a clue on how to do it. Eventually, the alarm would stop only to start again when a truck would drive by and shake the car. Apprently, the car alarm is sensitive to movement. This was news to us.
I must mention that my husband is not and has never been a car fixer kind of guy. In fact, before we leave on any road trip he takes the car to the mechanic to give it a once over. It’s always maintained and is fairly new.
After quite some time, the state highway trooper arrived. My husband had already called our emergency car service ‘AAA’ (automobile assistance of america). They had given him an estimated time of one hour for the repair truck to arrive. The police trooper told us he had called an emergency service too. That service arrived first.
Now, let me also add that, my husband does know how to change a tire and we did have a spare tire in the trunk. But, the area where the car settled was at an angle and the dirt was soft and swampy. It would be impossible to change a tire on that.
The repair service eventually arrived with its’ special equipment and changed the tire. He informed us that the tire was a donut tire and could not be used to go faster than 40mph. We had been driving 70mph which meant we could run out of time before we arrived at the pier. The state trooper said he would follow us until he received another call as a courtesy to my husband; a former NYPD officer. I thought that was very nice of him.
Time was diminishing quickly.
However, within 35 minutes we were at the pier. As we pulled up a skycap helped get the luggage out of the trunk of the car. I sat on a bench while my husband went to park the car at a long term parking garage.
Because I have knee issues from time to time, I get a wheel chair brought out for me whether at airports or cruise ramps to keep me safe from falling. It’s difficult for me to climb stairs or to walk up angled ramps, too.
The ship was leaving the pier at 4:00 p.m. We had arrived at the pier at 3:15 p.m.
I have never been whisked through customs and checked-in so quickly. In a matter of 10 minutes we were in our stateroom with our luggage. Usually, the luggage arrives very late. Too late to sort through and find clothes to wear for dinner. It’s the reason they allow you to wear resort casual in the dining room the 1st night.
Upon entering the room, we noticed there was a bottle of champagne and some green apples along with fresh flowers waiting for us. We popped the bubbly and sat out on our balcony to exhale and relax. At the sound of the fog horns announcing our departure, we sat back and watched the stress of our day go out to sea with our ship.
To be continued ….. more disclosures to come including my injury!!!
Because of my injury, I am unable to sit, stand or lie down for any length of time without discomfort. Due to that, I hope to add the rest of this experience in segments. I’ll pop over to visit your blogs from time to time. I hope to catch-up with all of you.
Thank you dear blog friends for your emails and notes of concern.
You brighten my day with your kind friendship hugs and love.
It’s been eerily quiet around this blog as of late. I haven’t been well but not, ill, in the sense of sickness.
Our 50th Anniversary is this August. We thought we would celebrate with a cruise through the Panama Canal, down through Central America on up to South America then finishing with a weeks stay at the last port San Francisco. Although it’s earlier than our anniversary date, we chose this time due to the itinerary being offered by the cruise line. I had prepared for this trip for months.
The night before our departure the winds were blowing and the rains were torrential. When we awoke my husband did an inspection of our lanai. To his surprise the storm had broken through 2 of our lanai screens; tossed our patio chairs into the pool and my orchid arbor had been moved 6 feet. While he was quickly repairing the screens to prevent birds and wildlife from creating homes on my lanai, I snapped into preparing for our departure.
1. Luggage in car – check
2. Passports / ID / charge cards – check
3. Camera – check
4. water bottles – check
5. purse / sunglasses / kindle / hat – check
It was time to go.
Once in the car, we exhaled and sat back to enjoy our 2 1/2 hour drive to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
We were still on time for our 9:00 a.m. departure. This would get us to the pier at 12:30 p.m. It was the right amount of time for a stop along the way to rest. There was plenty of time to find long term parking for our vehicle since the ship would depart at 4:00 p.m. We were prepared.
It’s an easy car ride to the pier. We have to travel from the west coast of Florida to the east coast across the lower part of Florida on a road called Alligator Alley.
Yes … it is called by that name because it was built over swamp land where alligators, to this day, still occupy. The road is fenced with barbed wire at the top to maintain a clear road from these primitive alligators laying out on the road.
With one lane going west to east and one lane going east to west you do not want to run into any type of vehicle problem. Help is slow coming and the bugs from the swampy stagnant water can make for an uncomfortable wait in the heat.
After a bit of conversation and a few fun happy tunes on the radio, I decided I’d get my Kindle out. I wanted to start reading one of my books from my summer book list.
BTW – I was reading ‘Never Look Back’ by Lorna Lee. If you haven’t read it – shame on you. It’s a page turner or slider as in the case of reading on a Kindle. LOL
Suddenly, I heard a rattling sound from my side of the car. I popped a glance over at my husband.
Looking quite serious, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “I may have to stop and see what that is”.
With no exits available that meant a rest stop. Fortunately, there was one about a mile away.
We pulled off there so he could check-on what the noise was. I made a quick stop to the ladies room as long as we had stopped. When I came back he said he couldn’t find any reason for the noise. With some apprehension, off we went once again.
Ten minutes down the road, as quickly as you could blink, we are off the road in a tire blow-out crash. Because I had my seat in a reclined position while reading, I could see him trying to keep our car from rolling over. The side areas are soft – remember swamp.
I tried to sit up but the angle was steep. Finally, I got my seat up as he’s managed to get the car stopped. We literally sat there with the emergency alarm on, stunned and in disbelief.
Inside the Mind of Isadora 