TheBanyanTree: January 19th, 2005-Chapter and Verse

[Maria Gibson]

GOING HOME

PROLOGUE
The idea that extraordinary days start out in a boringly ordinary
fashion is not a new theme yet, as a species, human beings always seem
surprised by that commonality.  On this day, I arose as usual, got ready
for work and made breakfast as usual, even slipped in an argument with
my 16 year old son, as happens frequently.  And, although the drive to
work was quite usual, I am now struck by the irony of my having been
very, very annoyed with the driver in front of me for going five miles
an hour under the speed limit.  She was driving an annoyingly slow 40
miles per hour.
  Once at work, I went through my routine but did take a moment to
notice what an absolutely gorgeous sunrise we were having.  The
buildings and the tree tops looked as if they had been sprayed with a
fine mist of gold.  I am really grateful that I took the time to breathe
in that phenomenon.  For, as often as extraordinary days start
ordinarily, so are we very often surrounded by small miracles of which
we don't take note.


Chapter 1:23pm
IT BEGINS

  The snow had been coming down for nearly two hours, the beauty of the
sunrise a distant memory.  I was in the middle of a meeting when word
was brought to us that the schools were going to close early.  All the
moms, and that is most of us, made our way to leave work and collect our
children, or in my case, meet them at home.  I had to brush the fine,
powdery mess from my windows before I could leave but, all in all, it
really didn't look too bad.  I'm not big on driving in inclement weather
but I left the office with confidence.  I figured I'd still stop at the
store for the fixings for spaghetti and chili, which I had previously
planned but I'd wait until I was closer to home.  When snow arrives in
North Carolina, it seems the natives suddenly have a powerful hunger for
bread and a raging thirst for milk so I knew what kind of crowd I'd be
in for.  Best to be within minutes of home when braving the throngs.
  I set out going north and pretty soon realized that the trip was going
to take a lot longer than usual.  The roads were deceptively slippery as
the cars crushed the fine power into the concrete and the freezing
temperatures immediately turned the whole mess into ice.  I was
traveling at a crawl, perhaps five miles an hour.  By 2:00, having gone
maybe a mile, I hunkered down for a really slow trip.  I kept myself
company with a fabulously juicy pear, a richly sweet orange and the
radio.  Reports were poring in about the conditions.  As the road I was
on narrowed, there were several cars off to the side.  I felt lucky to
be in a heavier vehicle, avoiding other cars and actually making it
without sliding using my brakes in quick pumps.  A police cruiser went
by on the shoulder and as I rounded the curve I could see why.  A red
Explorer was nose end in a steep ditch, the rear wheels in the air.  The
car in front of me managed to get around it but I stopped, waiting to
see what would happen, waiting to see if I could get around as well.
  About ten minutes later the driver of the Explorer came back to his
vehicle.  I waved him over and rolled down the window.  He told me the
bridge ahead was closed and that the traffic I saw coming toward me was
the result of people turning around to head back.  I said I thought
perhaps I should turn around, too, and as I turned my wheel to the left
he was saying I  shouldn't.  I thought the same thing as my traction to
the pavement disappeared and I started a slow slide toward his upended
truck and the deep ditch.  I have had many dreams of driving off of a
bridge and this felt a lot like those dreams.  I was sliding to the
right and that ditch seemed to be a huge mouth just waiting to swallow
me.  I saw myself flipping over and wondered what that would be like and
dreading the prospect.  My gaze was frozen on what was coming when my
car miraculously stopped.  My right front panel was trapped under his
back right tire.  Thank you Jesus, I didn't flip.  I was shaking and
asked him to please come over and help me out.  I grabbed Randy's
running shoes because the shoes I had on were no good for walking.
There cars strewn everywhere and plenty of other people walking, so I
knew that's what I had to do.  My purse in hand, keys in the ignition as
the Explorer owner had advised me and a note with my info on the seat, I
set out.
  I walked all of three feet when Julie picked me up.  She and her
children were trying to get home and managed to take me as far as two
traffic lights ahead.  I tried several times to call Randy on the cell
but everyone in the city was trying to call someone and it took several
tries.  We agreed that he would pick me up at Starbucks.  Julie dropped
me off, she apologizing that she couldn't take me further because then
she and her kids wouldn't make it home for several more hours if she
did, me thanking her profusely for her generosity in getting me that
far.

Chapter 2:29pm
STARBUCKS

Getting across the roads, first the main road and then the side road,
was an exercise much like the old video game of Frogger.  I held my hand
up and scooted my way across the icy roads and decided that before
Starbucks I'd go to the nearby grocery store for the spaghetti and chili
stuff.  The store was crowded but the atmosphere was not panicked as I'd
have imagined.  I relayed my story to the cashier and she told me her
story of it taking 2 1/2 hours to get to work, ten minutes away.
Trading stories of how we got somewhere, how long it took and how
bizarre a day it was will go on for some time here, I'm sure.  I walked
with my groceries to the coffee shop and ordered the strongest, tallest
coffee available with a shot of espresso.  There were a lot of people
waiting for a ride and a lot of stories to be told.  We took turns
telling our tales, gasping appropriately for one another, shaking our
heads in sympathy for each drama.  It was very comforting and homey as
the employees passed out desserts to their guests and brought chairs in
from outside.  To be stranded somewhere could have been a lot less than
fun but those folks made it ok.  I wouldn't have expected any less,
anyway.  I know a lot of people have a hard time with the cost of coffee
in a chain coffee shop, but I have been enamored with this particular
store ever since our office moved close to it.  They are always fast and
courteous, cheerful and personable.  I go about once a week, passing up
two other stores just to get to this one in particular.  I started
thinking that when I got home I'd have to write about this experience
and call it "Refuge at Starbucks."
  Randy called on the cell, he said he had been trying for a half hour
to get through and let me know that he was about a mile away.  It was
awhile before he pulled in and joined the relaxed crowd of us, ordering
his own large cup of coffee and telling his tale before we left.

Chapter 4:15
BEDFORD HELL

As we drove away, Randy said he was concerned that I had left my whole
key ring full of keys in the van.  He felt that someone could look at
the registration, see our address, take the house key and rob us.  While
I was struck that they, the would-be thieves, wouldn't make it to our
house any faster that we would, I agreed that we could at least go to
the van and get the house keys off of the ring.  We set off north.  As
we passed under the second traffic light, still moving excruciatingly
slowly, I called Starbucks to have them tell the dad that was there with
a two year old that he could make it this far to get home.  The van,
hooked to the Explorer's back tire, was just past the subdivision of
Bedford Falls. We were amazed at the number of cars off of the road as
we made our way as close to the van as possible.  People were out
walking which would have been abnormal even on a warm, sunny day.  This
part of the city just isn't convenient for walking, it's more like
suburban spread and most of us drive to get wherever we are headed.
When we were close enough to see Bedford Falls I got out of the Saturn
and gingerly made my way to the policeman that was handling the
traffic.  He said, as he visibly shivered from being in the cold for so
long, that they had moved the van and parked it in someone's yard and we
could get it.  We would have to bring it south, however, because the
bridge north was still closed.  Before I could turn to go back and let
Randy know, someone came up to let the cop know a woman with no cell
phone was in a car just past where the van was with an infant and a
three year old and needed a ride.  I told them we'd take her home.
Randy parked the car and we walked toward the van.  It was beginning to
feel like a true event, something along the line of what New Yorker's
must have felt when the lights went out.  We were all in the same
situation and dealing with our little piece of it the best way we
could.  The camaraderie of it made the surreal bizarreness a little less
daunting.  We were all in this together.  Strangers had left their homes
that morning but it was fellow storm bravers who reached out to one
another and did what was needed at the moment.  I felt a deep kinship
with the people who were also walking this particular stretch of road.
Just as we made it to the area with the woman and her children, she was
climbing into the car of someone else who agreed to take her home.  I
was almost disappointed not to be her Samaritan but I was happy she was
going to be out of the weather and on her way home.
  Randy asked that I drive the van as he had noticed that the Saturn was
steering weird ever since he hit a curb trying to avoid a car on his way
to get me earlier.  We turned left into Bedford Falls to get to the main
road instead of trying to get to it by roads further ahead.
  This particular subdivision is fairly new and touts the benefit of
having been built like a small town within a city.  It boasts a farmer's
market, a central park, twenty-six miles of sidewalk and two lakes with
small parks, all within its perimeter.  It looks like a place I'd love
to have a home in.  The area is quite beautiful and seems to have
affordable homes as well as expensive ones.  Having a large coffee in
me, I began to wonder if those homes held people with big hearts because
I was about to burst with the need to use a bathroom.  We drove up this
street and down that one.  We could not figure out how to get out of
Bedford Falls.  We stopped and asked some teens and they pointed out a
route but cautioned us about the hill.  Randy, the leader of our caravan
as there were several cars behind me trying to get out as well, went the
way we were told and stopped short of going down the hill.  It was one
of those hills that go down and then back up with a steep valley in
between.  Cars were scattered everywhere at the bottom as if a giant
careless child had left his toys out.  We could see cars, those that
weren't already abandoned, struggling to get traction and spinning
around.  We oh-so carefully turned around to find another way out.
Finally, by sheer dumb luck, we made it to the road we had come in on
and were able to leave Bedford Hell.  It took nearly an hour to get back
to where we had begun but we turned onto the road going south.  We
agreed by cell phone, after several attempts to call each other before
we could connect, to go back to Starbucks to use the potty and get more
coffee.  It was evidently going to be a long night.  When we got back we
got a very warm welcome.  The crowd was nearly all the same people as
when we had left earlier.  We relayed what had happened to us while we
were gone and inquired about the people who had left in the meantime.
The employees offered us an espresso tiramisu.  We looked around and
everyone had one as well as some chip type snacks an employee happened
to have there and had passed around.  They were giving out food to those
trapped in the store.  Everyone was in good cheer for such a situation
because it seemed we were with friends.  We stayed only long enough for
another coffee before we made our back into the night.  I felt as if I'd
rather have just stayed but who knew how long it was going to take
before we got home and we just wanted to get the show on the road, as it
were.

Chapter 6:15pm
REALIZATION SETS IN

  All the while that we were trying to get to the main road and head
home, we were listening to the radio reports.  It seemed the whole city
was paralyzed with cars clogging every available roadway.  People were
calling the station to relate stories of five or more hours trapped in
their cars trying to get home.  The snow had actually ended about 2:30
but the resulting icy conditions had made the roads very dangerous at
exactly the time we all needed to be on them, although I'm sure it's
rare for everyone to be out at once.  Buses of children had left the
schools only to return several hours later with a load of hungry kids
needing to use a bathroom.  Other groups of kids were simply never able
to leave the school and were now being fed supper by crews of teachers
and school employees who were preparing to spend the night at school
with them.
  We managed to go a back way and avoid a lot of traffic, me still
driving the van and Randy driving the Saturn.  He was determined to get
that car to the dealership because he feared that something was going to
break and it would be undrivable.  I wanted to leave it at Star bucks
but he was insistent.  Rather than get into an argument, I gave in and
agreed to go to the dealership to drop the car off before heading home.
When we emerged from the back roads, we were stunned at the scene before
us.  Cars were abandoned on the sides of the road, in the median and
even a few in the driving lanes.  Those of us who were still trying to
get to the end of the journey had to make our way around the mess as
best we could.  My shin started to ache with the constant brake tapping
just to keep from slamming into the Saturn.  I called Randy again on the
cell and said we needed to go to the hotel nearby because it was
apparent that getting home, a mere twelve miles from that point, had
emerged as an impossibility.  I was nearly in tears, nearly begging as I
tried to make him understand what a state of anxiety I was getting
into.  People were walking on the side of the road, many of them, too,
on cell phones, just to get somewhere for the night.  We were finally
close enough to see the gridlock on the main road and Randy reluctantly
agreed to give up the idea of the dealership and simply go to the
Hampton Inn.  I was so tired, so desperate to get out of the car and had
to use the bathroom again.  I was trying to remain calm and struggling
against the anxiety creeping up the back of my throat.  The reports on
the radio echoed what I was able to see for myself.  Cars were trapped
on the road and no one was going to get anywhere anytime soon.  It was
bedlam and there didn't seem to be any explanation.  The perfect storm
had, through a scattered and random set of circumstances, set upon our
city and shut it down.  The atmosphere of disbelief was palpable.  The
population trying to get home was a body of one with no head to direct
us and there was nothing we could do about it.

Chapter 7:30pm
SEPARATED

A large van squeezed in between Randy and I.  I saw Randy make the slow
left turn into the intersection and make it to the far right lane to go
to the hotel.  He called on the cell to let me know he was in the
parking lot of a restaurant and would wait for me there.  As I inched my
way to first in line to turn left, I could tell it wasn't going to be
easy at all.  Cars lined up going north with no end in sight.  It seemed
no one wanted to let anyone in.  Turning left meant getting into the
middle of the intersection and bullying your way in or not getting into
it at all.  It was near total gridlock as cars ignored the signal lights
and jammed onto the road.  Cars turning left, as I was, ignored the
light and made their way in.  Progress was measured in inches at best.
Horns blared, tempers flared, birds flew.  It took me nearly ten minutes
in that intersection.  I was scared the whole time that someone would
lose control of their car and ram into me.  Or not lose control but take
control and ram into me.  When I finally got out of the turn area of the
intersection I locked eyes with a young woman.  We rolled our windows
down to commiserate on how weird this all was, both of us being alone in
our cars we apparently just needed a moment of human contact.  She joked
that all she wanted at this point was a bottle of wine because she lived
at least fifteen minutes further north than I do and she now knew it
would take several hours to make it there.  I told her we were going to
a hotel and she said she would too if she didn't have a baby at home
waiting on her.  She asked if she could get in front of me and I said
sure and we rolled our windows back up, each of us alone again in our
cars which had turned into our whole world.  As I sat there, I saw that
getting to the driveway I wanted to get to, a mere 100 feet from where I
was, was likely to take a half hour.  I decided to go into the gas
station instead, park the car and walk to the restaurant.  I guess it
had been nearly a half hour since I'd talked with Randy and I wanted
nothing more than to get out of the car.

Chapter 8:00pm
THE FALL

I parked the van in the back of the lot when my cell phone rang; it was
Randy.  I pressed the button to answer the call but it wouldn't answer.
For hours, the news had been reporting that cell phones and even land
lines were so jammed up that getting in touch with someone was nearly
impossible.  I couldn't get my phone to respond and as I prepared to
leave my vehicle, writing a note and getting things I needed out, Randy
tried several times to call.  He continued to call each time he couldn't
get an answer and I continued to try to answer each time he called.  It
was very, very cold as I walked toward the restaurant.  A young couple
was just ahead of me and looked back nervously as I approached.  I joked
with them that I wasn't a stalker as I picked up my speed, my phone a
constant blare of the 'revelry' ring that is Randy's own when received
by my phone.  I think I began babbling about what a dreadful day it had
been as I got closer to them and, apparently, in my anxious state of
mind, began to run in the icy parking lot.  I didn't know I had been
running until I was down.  I managed to keep hold of my incessantly
ringing phone and my purse and landed, squarely and with what felt like
a lot of force, flat on my back.  Time and breath stopped for a moment.
I heard someone ask if I was ok.  I said no, I really wasn't.  I had hit
my head and arm but it was the left side of my back that was in the most
pain.  I gestured wildly with my right hand holding the phone, telling
no one in particular, to please look for the white Saturn, that my
husband was around somewhere looking for me.  A man and his daughter
went to look for him but came back saying they couldn't find a white
Saturn.  I don't know what happened to the young couple but a strangely
calm man in a Terminix uniform asked me again if I could get up.  I
rolled to my stomach and he helped me to my feet.  I could barely breath
and began to cry and then I began to laugh.  I alternated these two
responses amidst more wild gesturing and explanations of what a freaking
nightmare the whole day had been.  I don't know if they even responded
to me but I just kept crying, laughing and babbling.
  They helped me into the restaurant where I sat waiting on a bench for
whatever was going to happen next.  The Terminix guy, although my hero
and so kind and helpful, was also pissing me off because when I
explained that my phone refused to answer the call, he began to punch
the disconnect button each time it started to ring.  Wouldn't you
know...? It was the only button that seemed to be functioning.  I was
wondering in my head why he was doing that, how he could be so calm as
to cut off my life line like that but it never occurred to me to ask.
To say I was dazed would be quite an understatement.  When it seemed I
was settled somewhat he gave the phone back.  Randy called again and the
phone finally allowed me to answer.  He was in such a panic himself that
he began to yell at me.  During all of this happening to me, he had
driven the car around the parking lot looking for me and when he
couldn't find me had parked and gotten out.  He walked to the road with
the plan to try and stop traffic if I was stuck.  The last thing he knew
was I had been only one car behind him and he couldn't understand my
apparent disappearance.  He walked back, calling me on the cell all the
while, his panic raising to hellish heights.  He ran around the parking
lot looking for me again and fell, hurting his arm and thumb.  The same
arm that has a pinched nerve he's under a doctor's and physical
therapist's care to fix.  When he finally arrived in the restaurant I
told my angels, the Terminx guy and the man with his daughter that this
was my husband.  They seemed to fade away and I'm not sure if I even
thanked them.
  The entire episode is almost a blur in my mind.  I don't know what to
make of all of it quite yet, it seems I'll be thinking of each micro
second of the whole event for quite some time.  I truly felt at this
point that I had entered the twilight zone, had been thrust into bizzaro
world with no way out and not knowing which way to turn but being
reasonably sure that whichever way that was, it wouldn't matter.  Fate
and destiny had taken over and all I could do was try to hang on for the
ride.

Chapter 8:18pm
SUPPER

Randy was really hungry but we decided to check into the hotel before
eating.  We walked from the restaurant about a quarter of a mile to the
hotel.  As soon as the doors opened, I knew there was no room
available.  The lobby was packed with people who had the same dazed look
on their face that I could feel on mine.  The employees were passing out
coffee to everyone and said we were welcome to stay in the lobby for as
long as we wanted to.  We said no and sadly turned away from our one
shining beacon of hope to get out of this mess and walked back to the
restaurant.  I was in so much pain and so mentally drained that I just
sat at the table and watched Randy eat.  Amazingly, there was almost no
one in there and we were able to get his food right away.  I remember
looking at the food on his plate, which looked as edible and appealing
as a plate of leaves might have looked, thinking that there was no way I
could put food in my mouth.  That seemed like such a strange response
because I hadn't eaten much the whole day.  When he was finished my pain
was worse than ever and Randy went by himself to get the car. While he
was gone I called my mom, the nurse.  She is like my own private nurse
and I'll often call her for advice.  I also just really, really wanted
my mother after everything that had happened.  She confirmed for me that
I had to go to the hospital, a fact I already knew but felt incapable of
deciding for myself, and told me to call an ambulance.  I tried to
explain the horrible conditions that were my city at the moment; the
snow and ice, the traffic, the hours and hours of people trapped in
cars, the kids still in school so late at night, the impossibility that
this was all occurring.  I let her know we had seen so many ambulances
trying to make their way around the traffic that we had lost count.  I
agreed I had to go to the hospital but I felt I had to save that
resource in case someone who was on the brink of death should need it.
We set out to go to the hospital in the van leaving the Saturn in the
parking lot.  Had I known how long it was going to take to reach our
destination, usually about a twenty minute drive from that point, I'd
have called that ambulance sucking up that resource for my very own.

Chapter 8:55pm
THE LONG RIDE

Getting from town to the beltline didn't take very long at all.  It
seemed that the most of the trouble driving was in going north and we
were headed south.  Everyone was driving carefully but even so, we were
able to go about thirty miles an hour all the way to the beltline.  It
seemed as if we were flying in comparison to what it had been like all
day.  Then, as soon as we were on the beltline, the by now all too
familiar crawl of a drive was again all the progress to be made.  As we
waited in line with everyone else, a man on foot passed on our left in
between the rows of cars.  He was talking to himself and seemed mighty
unhappy based on the way he was throwing his arms around, apparently
ranting and raving but to no one in particular.  My first thought was
that it was dangerous to walk in the middle of the beltline and then
thought the only way he would collide with a car at the speed we were
going was if he hurled himself into one.  He walked out of sight within
moments.  I wonder now as I wondered then what his story was.
  We drove for what seemed like a long time before getting to the next
exit away from where we got on.  The hospital is only two exits from
where we got on the beltline but it looked like at it would be at least
two hours of waiting if we went that far.  We took the first exit and
seemed to sail right, left at the light, left again until we got to the
road the hospital is on and had to turn left onto it.  We entered at the
1500 block and had to get to the 3000 block and from then on sailing
sank to standstill as we inched our way to the hospital.  This road, as
reported on the ever present, ever droning of ice and snow traffic
reporting, was another of the main roads that was nearly impassable.
Several things from that nearly three hour portion of the ride stand out
in my mind.  There was the woman in her SUV who was entertaining herself
with music.  It must have been a favorite CD because it seemed she knew
all the words; her head was bobbing and weaving, hair flinging, her
mouth opened wide in what must have been a loud accompaniment to a loud
song.  I was struck that this woman who had found a way to deal with her
situation, was driving an 'Escape.'  Then there were people walking, a
constant no matter what street we found ourselves on that night.  In my
mind is a clear picture of the cop who told me when I rolled down the
window to inquire how far it was to the hospital, that at this pace it
was two years away.  And there was the cop sitting in her cruiser with
the lights on, in the median.  Not doing anything, not out of her
vehicle, just there with lights flashing.  I don't know what the purpose
of that was supposed to be.  As we sat in the car my pain seemed to
diminish somewhat.  I called my mom to update her a few times and assure
her that it wasn't wise for her to drive up here, called my 16 year old
son, home by himself for the night, to let him know what was going on.
It didn't occur to us, I don't think, to be impatient with the ride
because we knew there was no way to make it any shorter.  It was what it
was and we dealt with it by just doing it.  What else was there to do,
really?  We listened to the news and felt badly for the kids trapped at
the school but felt relieved that they were safe.  We felt as one with
the people on the road because we knew they were dealing with the same
issues we were dealing with.  Hungry, having to go to the bathroom,
thirsty, tired, spent.  It had been a very long, long day for everyone
and we were no worse off than anyone else.

Chapter 12:25am
THE EMERGENCY ROOM

  Randy opened the van door for me to help me out.  From my first step
to the pavement, I knew something was ever so much worse than when we
had begun the trip here.  I was in so much pain and again had a
difficult time catching a good breath.  Someone brought a wheelchair and
wheeled me in, tears pouring down my face, gasping moans pouring out as
well.  If I have ever been in that kind of pain before, I can't remember
when it was.  Nothing about the whole process was pain free from the
checking in to the triage to the registration.  As I sat in the
wheelchair, however, it did seem to subside to a level I could deal
with.  Everywhere were stories of how long it had taken for people to
arrive to work in the hospital, some six and seven hours.  The guy who
checked me in had never in his life driven on icy roads and said when he
went home he wasn't going to venture back out until the roads were
clear.  Fortunately, I guess because all roads leading to the hospital
were clogged nearly shut, very few people had come into the ER on their
own.  Still, we sat for a little more than two hours before being seen.
When I was able to get into a bed the pain returned with a menacing
ferocity and I was again reduced to tears.  Very shortly after my exam I
was given an injection for pain for which I was mightily grateful.  I'm
sure the x-rays would have been a lot more unbearable without some
medication to drown out the pain of standing with breath held while the
machine took pictures of my chest wall.  Nausea had set in pretty well
by that time so when I was returned to the bed I pretty much just passed
out.  The day had been too much for me and in the absence of music I was
happy to escape into a drug induced haze.  I was released at about
6:00am with a diagnosis of badly bruised ribs and an interesting
breathing thingamabob.  I was told that I would have to remain mindful
of taking deep breaths often and this apparatus was going to help me
measure my success of that task.  Taking a deep breath was akin to
having a blunt knife handle roughly poked into my back but it must
surely be better than allowing pneumonia to set in.  Unfortunately, by
the time I reached the car, the nausea had become an evil, living being
that had me in its jaws and wouldn't let go.  I had to ride with my eyes
closed the whole way home.  I wanted to open them, to see the graveyard
of cars abandoned on the side of the road.  I wanted to look at the
quiet after the storm because I still couldn't quite believe what a
night this had been.  I wanted to be a witness to the end of something I
had seen the beginning of, had been a part of.  It had all the earmarks
of an historical event that we would share with one another for years to
come.
  When we arrived home, I promptly opened the door and threw up in the
driveway.  Good-bye horrible day, good-bye horrible experience, good-bye
lunch.  It sure was great to crawl into bed, pull the covers up and pass
out.


EPILOGUE
  I am out of work for a few days.  A nurse from the hospital called
yesterday afternoon to let me know I do indeed have a broken rib, number
six on the back left side.  I called work to let them know what had
happened and shared stories with my boss and got some second hand
stories others had related to her.  I only know this much: I had to
write this down.  I'm sure I'll remember it for a long, long time but I
don't want the details to become fuzzy.  There are some things I want to
stand out in my mind forever.  How absolutely beautiful the sunrise was
on Wednesday. How insanely good the pear and orange tasted as I
innocently began my long journey home and ate my last meal of the day.
I want to keep with me forever how nice it was at Starbucks and how
desperately I and the young mom just needed to talk for a moment so we
rolled our windows down in the middle of the traffic.  I don't think I
could manage to forget the Terminix guy who helped me up from my icy bed
and how calmly he kept cutting off my phone call.  Then there was the
demented man in the ER, most of whose utterances weren't English but
gibberish.  There was an awful lot of good that came from it all,
stories all over the news about people were good and kind to one
another.  So many things to ponder for awhile.  So much to sort through.

  It would be impossible to forget how happy I was to get home and get
into bed.  It is likely to be a few days before the routine goes back to
normal, goes back to being so normal I find it hard to distinguish one
day from another.  It's a shame that we live a lot of life that way.  To
be honest, though, I don't care much for the evil side of excitement
like we had two days ago.

Maria