February 9, 2008

• What a week!

  Monday morning Allison and I took the train in to Mainz to watch the Fastnach parade.  Mainz along with Cologne and Dusseldorf hold the biggest celebrations in the country and boy do they celebrate!  We had a really great time and took dozens of pictures then we had a quick late lunch and started home.  Unfortunately that is where things started to go wrong.  We got on the train heading home not realizing it had been turned into an express because of the amount of people that came to the celebrations.  It flew right past Nackenheim and every other village and didn’t stop until we were in Worms.  Very disheartened and extremely weary we tried to get off the train. I was in the lead and hadn’t completely got clear of the first big step off when these drunk idiots closed up the space behind and tripped me. I fell off the train onto the platform with my left leg going down between the platform and the train.   I landed hard on my left elbow and hip.  And to tell the truth I was freaked because my leg was hanging down over the track and I was scared the train would start to move before I could get up.  Allison was still on the train and yelled and shoved her way off and helped me up and the doors closed and the train left.  I was shaking like a leaf in a stiff wind.  We then had to buy tickets back to Nackenheim and luckily for us the train going back was almost empty and we were able to not only have seats we practically had the entire car to ourselves. It was a bad end to a good day and the next day the bruises and limping proved it.

  For two days I had the most awful time getting comfortable, this is what happens when your left cheek is one giant bruise. Finally on Wednesday I decided to see who had won the Super Tuesday vote and that’s when I found out about the tornados that had swept the southern states, including our home state of Arkansas.  I really freaked when I found out Clinton, Arkansas had been hit because as you know that is where we’re from and that’s where my dad, my sister and all my friends live.  I never did get a call thru to my dad and sister that live there but I did finally get thru to our friends Marv and Judy and I talked to my other sister who had talked to my dad and sis and I found out they were all spared as was their houses and property. The next worry was our own house.  Marv didn’t know because the police had closed highway 16E leading to it because of damage in Honey Hills subdivision.  They knew the tornado hadn’t gone down into our area which is called Pine tree acres but they couldn’t say for sure there weren’t trees down.  So I finally broke down and called my neighbor Laverne and she said she watched the tornado from our front yard as it passed less than a mile from our houses.  She finally had to take shelter because as it came it was preceded by hail and torrential rain and so she had to make a run for it before it got closer.  But all my neighbors and all our houses are safe.  A lot of our other friends weren’t as lucky.  I could name dozens of our friends and acquaintances who lost everything and some who just had damage, but it can at least be repaired.  We still must feel blessed and lucky at the relatively low total of people killed and wounded but I admit to being brought to tears over and over this week at the pictures and video of the tornado blasted landscape of our hometown.  If you would please pray for or send your good wishes to them all in Clinton, Arkansas and the rest of the hard hit South. 

   

  • 4:08 pm
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