Friday, May 11, 2007

Stranded and a Storm’s Coming!

Now I’m not a blonde.
But my family and friends swear I am in disguise.
Trying to do too much more like it.

So I’m stealing 10 minutes to pick up milk
on my way to watch my 4 year old try to learn to swim.
I have a small cooler I keep in my trunk for just such times.

Fumbling with keys, grocery bags, fighting off the little guy
who wants to take my buggy
(um, that's "grocery cart", if you aren’t from the south),
and trying to get the milk in the cooler,
I mistakenly lock my keys in the trunk.

Cell phone locked in car. Stay calm.

Borrow phone from grocery store customer service…
won’t even reach the window…
this apparently has never ever happened before
in the history of the world!

Call husband who is at home with the spare key
but no car to bring it to me. Lovely.
He has to call Maley’s swim school and
have them track down Nana, who is, of course,
indisposed with the little guy who had to potty
in the middle of swim lessons.

Somewhere in my message I neglected to
give complete details of my whereabouts.
The store name has changed, and they are looking for the old name.

Egads!

I know none of this at the time.
I’m thinking Nana will be there any minute. I wait, wait, wait….

Keeping calm, remembering to forgive myself, not lose it.
I wait. Watch traffic, watch a storm brewing,
count the seconds between lightning and thunder. 21, 18, 17….

Two very long hours pass.
I am trying to be thankful it is just a key issue.
That there were no accidents or real “losses” involved.
Where ARE they?

What do you think about when you get stuck like that?
Well, I thought mostly about my family, and you.
How I couldn’t wait to share this with you.
Figure it’s good for a laugh. Go ahead….have a good laugh.
Glad I could make somebody’s day.

Meanwhile….they are s l o w l y driving up the entire length
of highway 51 starting in south Jackson looking for the
Jitney that is now called something else.

I am two miles North of Jackson, actually in Ridgeland.
This takes them quite a while.

At the sight of them, I nearly cried.
I loved them so much.
They are the most beautiful people I have ever seen. Ever!

Moral? None really.
“Keep a spare in your pocket” the little buggy guy says.

I’m just thankful that knowing I could share this with you
was what helped me pass those long hours.

Oh, and, it started raining on the way home.
I never got a drop on me.

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