Not a Hero to Me

Today I'm going to post an opinion. Something I seldom do because I don't like to offend others. I feel pretty certain those involved won't read this and none of my few readers are kin in any way to the three men I'm going to refer to.

On August 24 three local area men went missing in the Gulf. They had gone out fishing and were reported missing at about 9:00 by family. The Coast Guard and other search parties spent a week looking for these men. On Saturday August 29 they were rescued after being spotted by a man on a boat out fishing. Their boat had capsized and drifted for 7 days. They survived because they stayed with the craft. They were able to salvage some crackers which they rationed and they drank water from the well used for cleaning the boat. I was among those praying for these men and their families and I'm glad they were found and all is well.

Now here is the rub. These men are not heros. They have done nothing heroic and yet the local media has treated them as such. They have been interviewed and wined and dined for two days now. I think that is enough.

As the story has unfolded and I've picked up bits and pieces about what happened I just want to know what kind of IDIOTS are you? You should be acting very sheepish instead of bragging about how you survived. You should be thanking those who spent untold dollors to try and find you and looking for ways that you can repay that debt.

You went out in the Gulf, out of sight of the shore line in a small craft without any kind of radio or GPS system. Personally I think you need to be given a sign to wear that says I'm an idiot not paraded around for all to see like a hero. No you are no one hero.

Twenty Years Ago

All of these people sending children off to college has me remembering. The following happen twenty years ago almost to the day.

"Mahhhhm, we can't take Donna to school then. That's when we have the big pep rally for the boys and I HAAAAAVE to be there. I am A CHEERLEADER afer all and I HAAAAVE to be there!" she whined and flounced off.

Just one of the minor/major problems of juggling the schedules of the oldest daughter ready to go off to college at San Angelo State and youngest daughter going into her eighth grade year as one of the cheerleaders in a small school where the junior high and high school cheerleaders did a lot of things together.

There was a lot of discussion on what to do and how to do it.

I knew I needed to be there for Amy. She had worked hard to become a cheerleader and this was their first big event. But my Miss Independence, who suddenly didn't want to go, was reluctantly heading off some 450 miles to college and I really needed to be there too. What to do, what to do?

It was finally decided that we would pack Donna's Mercury Linx and she accompanied by Carrie, the middle daughter going into high school, would drive down during the day and that Robert, Amy and I would leave after the pep rally driving all night with the rest of Donna's stuff to unload when the dorms opened the next day.

They left early enough that they could arrive just before sun down in San Angelo and check into a motel at which I had made room reservations. Little did I realize that the motel wouldn't let them check in as minors or some nonsense like that. In the days before cell phones it took Donna calling the sheriffs office to contact me at the pep rally to call the motel to okay them checking in on my credit card and that I would be coming.

The pep rally, bond fire, ice cream social and clean up ended about 10:00 PM and we
headed out on our six or seven hour drive. We however didn't make it to San Angelo. As we passed through Brownfield about 3:00AM I felt the car slow and stop. I opened one eye to ask why we were stopping and Robert announced he couldn't drive any further.

He had pulled in to a very seedy looking motel, got out and checked us in. Sleepily I walked behind him to the door of the motel room knowing we were only going to be there a few short hours and then on our way again.

I didn't sleep in that motel room, although Robert did. When he turned on the light the orange carpet and bed spread suddenly disappeared under the face boards. I didn't even step in. Amy and I just went back to the car and curled up to sleep in less than total comfort.

Four hours later, Robert came out and our journey continued. We met up with Donna and Carrie.

The rest of moving her in is a blur. I'm sure we did some unpacking and arranging of items. I'm sure I gave more input than necessary or wanted, and I'm sure there was hugging and tearful good-byes when we left. I don't remember those.

I do remember thinking though, "How can this be? Where has the time gone since I gave birth to that little red haired girl?"

Twenty years later, I'm still wondering, "How can this be? Where has the time gone since I gave birth to that little red haired girl?"

Wandering Thoughts

I drove home over two days, Sunday to Donna's in the Fort Worth area and then on Monday on home. Both days of driving were uneventful for the most part. There were big trucks on the highways, so I did have to be alert. There were also a pick-up pulling a stock trailer who wanted to share the same portion of the road as me, but a toot of my horn awakened him to my presence and when I went on past him, he had a very sheepish apologetic look -- and of course there were the out of state cars who thought the Texas high ways are the autobahn with no suggested speed limits.

Even with all of these distractions needing my attention my mind did wander in strange directions at times and I began wondering about the expected grandchild. The thought process went something like this.

Said child is expected March 1. How many days is that? 30 days has September, April, June and November. So I need September and November so that is 60 day. Then October, December, and January have 31 each so that is that is 93 more for 153. Then you add in February with 28 for 181. Since the day I was driving was August 17 I had to add 14 more days to come up with 195 days until I'll be a Grammar again.

That was one of the random things I did to keep myself entertained while driving.

I'm excited --- a new grandbaby!

Thirteen Days -- Really? Thirteen Days

It has been thirteen days since my last post. It is hard to grasp that two weeks have gone by. When I last posted Robert and I were headed to the Bain reunion.
It was a good reunion this year. I enjoyed catching up with his cousins and there were a few in attendance who hadn't been in several years. There were surprises and disappointments, but for the most part things went smoothly.

Abigail got to go home with me. This was the first time I've had her at my house without the parents. What a fun trip home that was. Robert and I usually make the trip in about 10 hours. With Abby and Heidi it took about 14. Yes, we stopped a lot.

This was one of the best weeks of my summer! I learned a lot about my little princess granddaughter. Not all pretty, but none of it bad. She is very smart and very independent. She is a combination of my oldest and middle daughters. Ahhh, the memories that brings back. More on that visit when I can post pictures.

Then Robert got a part-time job. As we drove home he got a call that they wanted him to come out the the nuclear plant to work the outage --- when safety checks and maintenance is done on the reactors. (Only he isn't really working the outage. He is working pre-outage.) It will only last 6 weeks, but the pay is awesome and there is the slighest chance that it will turn into something semi-permanent. I don't fully understand what he is doing. He is called a Lab Facilitator, meaning he will teach a class he is being trained to teach then test and rank people based on aptitude and abilites.

I brought Abigail back to Amarillo by myself. We made this trip into a two adventure, stopping in Fort Worth to spend the night with Aunt Donna -- owner of two large cats which made Heidi look very small. Fortunately the cats paid little to no attention to Heidi and her barking. She is such a brave noisey dog unless you take a step toward her.

My father-in-law had knee replacement surgery on Wednesday so I have spent several hours at the surgery center with Robert's siblings. Praise God that everything is going good there and on Saturday he will be moved to a rehabilitation center then in five to seven days will be released to go home. The goal is for him to be able to basiscally care for himself at that point. But home health will come by two or three times a week to do therapy.

I'm missing my home and hubby -- I think I'll journey back south on Sunday afternoon or Monday and again make it a two day trip.