Hanging on/The Long Haul #8

[WCW]

When he told me about the trailer, I made sure he heard me say that he was such a good driver, and that it is very uncharacteristic of him to do something like that. I only saw it in the dark last night, it's worse in the daylight. Ouch. Even so, we can't change what was happening before it happened. We can't change that it did happen. We can only fix it, and move on.

Trigger today – more useless memories. I took off work this morning and went to a training session to qualify to be a Respite Care provider for families that need a break from taking care of kids or adults living with them that cannot be left alone. I’ve volunteered with this organization in the past, but in the capacity of offering a place of Respite and host a “Day at the Ranch”, organize people and horses and a petting zoo and activities for the day. The family can drop off their members with disabilities or handicaps, and we give horse rides, hay rides, have a lunch. Rumor got out that it was so much fun that most times the whole family stayed, instead of just dropping off the person that needs care. Today I had training so I could be called to go to other homes, provide respite care, and also get paid for it. During the training, another person gave an example of how to evacuate people in an emergency, and referred to a small town about 10 miles north of here that was obliterated by a tornado in June, 2004. That triggered a memory of that night, and I drifted off to that night. It was only about 6 weeks after I had found out what had been going on for 9 months already. H and I were at the same meeting, but had gone in separate trucks because he was running late. The meeting was about 20 miles south of home, and adjourned early because of tornado warnings. On the way home I called our friends that lived in that tornado town to check on them. They were ok, but the whole town was out of electricity and their basement was filling with water. I called my nephew, who has a portable generator, and then called H who was following me, to tell him what was up. H said he heard about it, but hadn’t talked to anyone. Baloney, OWB had just moved to her apartment in that town, and when I called him the first time he didn’t answer. I know, yes, I KNOW, he was on the phone with her. Checking in her, as a friend, is nice, it's the right thing to do in an emergency. The next thing he said is that as an official weather spotter he was going straight to the town and see how to help. I said NO, WE are going to pick up this generator from my nephew, and take it to our friends, they need help. We are going together, you are not going without me. He wiggled hard to get out of going together, I would not accept a no. I saw no sense in me going into a dangerous situation alone, and him too, and I even asked if he called OWB to check on her. We did both get in one truck and leave for the tornado ripped city, and on the way there came across a farmer with cattle skewed all over the roads and fields, amongst the remnants of his barn. We helped gather up some cattle and get them back home, and continued to the town, and managed to get thru the barriers to our friends and help them. Got the generator going, water pumping out of the basement, refrigerator plugged in, and it was about 24 hours before their electricity came back on. Now the wee hours of the morning, and we went back home. We even went to the same bed together to sleep. By the time I finished this memory and drifted back to class, I had to figure out what I missed so I could still pass the test. When do these memories end? When do the triggers quit firing? Ever?

PMA really isn't that bad, it just sounds like it.
More rambling to follow……