Rarely does my family get to attend events like Twins games at the Metrodome in Minneapolis so when we were offered four tickets, I was thrilled. I immediately called Darren at work and told him our good news.
“Can you believe it? You can take three kids to the game! They LOVE baseball!”
Darren’s enthusiasm level was less than I was expecting. He had put in a long day and was now facing a 45 minute drive home and another 45 minute drive back into the twin cities.
“Oh c’mon!” I argued, “When do we ever get to do something like this? You HAVE to take them!” I used the Tone normally reserved for the moments I absolutely know that I am right. It was the Tone which says “Nuh-uh! You are not getting out of this one, Mister. Don’t even bother to argue!!”
And he agreed.
Meanwhile, the children and I put names in a hat to determine who would get to attend with Dad. Isaiah, Logan and Elly all picked the winning pieces of paper and were jumping around in excitement. Daniel immediately went to his room filled with disappointment. (One of the most difficult things about parenting a large family is knowing that pretty much every decision I make will be met with someone feeling left out or slighted.) My heart went out to Dan and I went down to his room to have the can’t-we-be-happy-for-others talk that I’ve done a bajillion times before. I found his door locked. Rather than force him into a conversation he was in no state of mind to have, I turned around and walked back up the stairs. That’s when I ran into Elly.
“Mom, I was thinking. Since Danny loves baseball more than me, he can have my ticket.”
“But Elly, you won that fair and square. You don’t have to feel bad about going to the game!”
“Naw. I want him to go. It’s not that big of a deal to me.”
In that moment I realized just what an amazing daughter I have. She’s eight years old. When I was eight, I was guiltless stealing my siblings Halloween candy and enjoying it out in the field behind out house. She is just precious. I encouraged her to share the news with Danny and hurried upstairs to get dinner ready before they had to leave.
As soon as Darren arrived home, they piled into the van and sped down the driveway. Darren knew that traffic would be bad and since he had to stop to get cash, he was worried about being late. I said a quick prayer asking God to help them arrive safely. At the time I had no idea how much that prayer needed to be said.
I had just finished giving Elly a little pedicure when Kevin shouted from the other room “Mom! The bridge on 35W collapsed! Turn on the TV!” I thought he was joking until the news anchors confirmed with words what my son had just said. There were no images of the horrible scene yet, just eyewitnesses calling in to the station reporting that the bridge over the Mississippi had fallen right into the water.
While my mind sped with images of my family on that bridge, my body worked in slow motion. I tried to call Darren on my cell phone and my fingers wouldn’t work properly. I tried again and couldn’t remember the numbers. I was in sheer panic by the time I completed the dialing. The call went directly to Darren’s voicemail the first time.
“OMG…and I was the one MAKING him go! I INSISTED!”
The second try, which seemed like an eternity to attempt, connected me with him. He and the kids were stuck in traffic as one police car after another sped by him. He was about five miles north of the bridge as it collapsed and yet had no idea what was going on. Once I told him what happened, we both realized how life could have forever changed for us that day. He was able to turn around and head for home before our cell phones lost connection due to the massive amounts of calls being places in the area.
As of today, there are still people missing after the collapse. So many families are going through the hell that we somehow avoided. I just praise God for sparing mine. It will be a long time before I insist on anything again.
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August 20th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
I’m sitting here with tears coming down my cheeks, and thanking God your family was not on the bridge!!! What a story!! Jeff was back and forth on that bridge 3 times—two days before, so his wasn’t such a close call. But I still get goose-bumps when I think about it!!! Wouldn’t it be nice, if there were no tragedy’s in life? That’s what Heaven is for!!!! Right? Love–Lois
August 20th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
Lois- It took me almost three weeks just to write about it without crying. There were so many “what-ifs” that ran through my mind like how would Elly have felt if something DID happen. And the pain and agony felt by those who lost wives, husbands, children…it’s overwhelming. I know that God can work all things for good and that His grace is sufficent. Unfortunately my human understanding just can’t see it. Maybe the best we can do is to enjoy every day we are given.
August 20th, 2007 at 7:05 pm
What a story!!~If you caN take back a parachute that does not open, you should be able to get replacement ball tickets.
August 23rd, 2007 at 9:38 am
I’ve been out of town so this is the first time I’ve read this. I can’t even imagine how many times you’ve played the “what-ifs” in your head. I’m just thankful your “what-if” turned out the way it did.