Friday, October 30, 2015

Take the Long Way Home

It's Halloween. Time to admit what scares me: nighttime driving on the gravel road directly south of my dad's farm. Here's the reason.

I was in the backseat dozing after a Sunday evening in town with Mom and Dad. We'd often go in to visit relatives or to hear my sister Priscilla sing in "The Power and Light," a Christian singing group from the Huron Mission Church that performed in the Lewis Drug parking lot. 

I heard footsteps on gravel and Dad asking someone if he needed help. The voice grunted a reply.

Dad returned to the car with a report. "He's lost, but he said to leave him alone. Doesn't want any help."

Our car lights shined on a lug wrench in the middle of the road and an open trunk as Dad drove on the shoulder to get by the vehicle. It was dark already, so I didn't see the man.

But I sure did that night in my dreams and every time I woke up because I had heard Dad say the fella's name and that the guy was drunk.

This man lived a few miles from our place, and he was obviously confused, so my pre-teen brain imagined him getting passed our dog and mistaking our house for his and yelling his daughter's name up the stairway to me. And when I wouldn't come, he'd drag me down thinking I was his disobedient daughter and beat me up.

I never dreamed or imagined my parents intervening, or our dog taking care of him. A child's imagination and fears are not rational to adults.

But this adult still refuses to drive down that road at night. I go the long way around.


What incident stands out as a scary memory that impacts your behavior now? Do your child's fears change your routine?


6 comments:

  1. I don't have any fears anymore...but off of the subject here a minute...My daughters Mary and Melanie Decker sang with the Power and Light Co. with the HMC...I am still going to that church today...they have changed their name to Living Hope Alliance Church but are still the loving, Bible preaching and teaching people they were then...thank you for listening...just had to comment when you mentioned your sister Priscilla sang with the group...I will have to get ahold of my two daughters and tell them about you....BTW....I can certainly understand why you would be fearful of going down that road after your experience....

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    1. Hi Ruth, thanks for commenting. I'm so glad you are enjoying the blog. I'm glad we're Facebook pals. Maybe someday when I'm home, we can meet up. Both my sisters were married at the Mission Church. Great memories of there and Dick Dugan.

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  2. I don't like scary movies. My grandfather dropped my sister, our friend, and me off at the theatre. Our friend had a wonderful idea for us to sneak into the movie next door, the rated R movie. It was a thriller. I was terrified ... only 10 years old about ... and I had nightmares of that movie for years. When I grew up, I rented it to see if my fears were justified ... it was goofy. :) But it scared me then. :)

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    1. I can relate, Shelli. Watched "Frankenstein" at my friend's house and all night long an unattached arm was after me!

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  3. Stay off the road! when I was about 3 - I saw a big black dog get run over by a milk truck. It was squished across the middle and all read on the road around it. My parents never did have to tell me to stay off the road again. And every time I see a dog or a cat or a kid on the road, my stomach clenches. When at 16, I was leaning to drive, a dog ran across in front of me. I jammed on the breaks and got heck from my dad for doing so. He said there could have been a car behind me and we could have had a crash. (One of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situation) However, the dog lived to run another day - barely.

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    1. How awful, Mahrie, to see that milk truck kill that dog. An image planted in your brain forever. I'd cringe too. I do when it involves birds!

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