The Little Girl Who Cried:

Random Thoughts On Easter Weekend

What a busy weekend.

Debi & Aunt Penny took the girls to Bristol for their cousin’s birthday party. It was a whirlwind trip… there on Friday, back on Saturday & interrupted only by an extended rest area stop because someone locked her keys in the car. AAA was summoned and they were on the road again.

Tiffany came home for a short visit with Jon, a Marine buddy. Their bus arrived in Charlotte early Saturday. Apparently the bus doesn’t go all the way to York, and there was a 3-hour layover in Charlotte before their connection to Rock Hill. They opted to take a cab from Charlotte to York ($70).

We converged on the old Kloniger place on Saturday for an evening of food, wine and coloring Easter eggs (definitely not in that order). Bummer that Val & Steve couldn’t join us but they went to the mountains, where reportedly Valerie slept like a log.

We had Tiffany’s famous spaghetti (her best batch yet) – she made enough to feed a Marine Corps. Good thing, because at the last minute she invited a friend who came with an entourage. It looked like we were filming a soap opera or maybe an iPod commercial.

So there we were; young and old – having spaghetti, swapping stories and having a fine time. There was a cute baby who slept through most of the evening and my kids, who enjoyed the chaos immensely.

After dinner we mingled around the fire pit for the traditional roasting of marshmallows. Amelia & I were having a conversation about the finer points of roasting, when one of the guys said to the baby’s dad: “Can you imagine? One day your son is going to be talking with you that way.” I am in constant awe at each new stage of the development of these little people, but I sometimes forget the wonder at the stages passed and mastered. Now that I think about it, I vividly remember holding Isabel as a baby, thinking “I can’t wait till she can talk to me someday.”

Eventually, the cast of The Young & the Restless went home and we put the kids to bed, leaving the rest of us to play a game. We chose Cranium. Well, Penny & Debi chose it - they were still bitter over the guys’ brief but decisive victory last weekend. Once we FINALLY decided who was going to be on which team, we had a blast. It’s interesting to see certain skills emerge in a game like that. For example, it seems I have a bit of talent for drawing with my eyes closed. Unfortunately, my drawing skills don’t improve when my eyes are opened.

It was late and the kids were asleep so we decided to stay the night. Thankfully & much to Isabel’s & Amelia’s relief, the Easter Bunny found them at Aunt Penny’s house. We all enjoyed watching them enjoying their Easter baskets early Sunday morning.

It was time for Tiffany & Jon to deploy…

Tiff loaded up her car with some essentials (books, civilian clothes, a cheesecake mix) to get her through the next few months of school. Good thing she’s a Marine musician because she would never make it as a professional mover. First she carried some loose clothes to the car, then an armload of loose books all of which she tossed in the trunk and/or backseat. She obviously doesn’t have the packing gene. The haphazardness of this operation became more obvious when I observed her carrying the next load of stuff to her car… it was empty plastic storage containers. So the car was loaded, directions were discussed AT LENGTH, then we said our good-byes and she was on her way, back to base.

Uncle Marky drove Jon home. Turns out Jon’s family lives about an hour and a half in the opposite direction from the way Tiffany was going. To save Tiff from having to drive 3 extra hours, Mark volunteered to drive Jon. It occurred to me later… that’s Mark’s specialty. I believe that most people are happy to help others in any way they can, but it seems that most people have a specialty. There’s the Aunt who cooks for folks during difficult times, the neighbor who repairs mechanical things when budgets are tight, the friend who baby-sits in a pinch… Mark’s specialty is driving people. He’ll take anyone anywhere they need to go at any time.

After they all cleared out Penny, Debi and I lounged in the family room, enjoying relative peace & quiet while the kids played with their Easter goodies in the living room. The quiet was shattered when Isabel ran into the room crying, almost hysterically. Amelia was close on her heels.

What could have happened?? Did she feed her bouncy ball to the dog? Did she stick a quarter up her nose? WHAT HAPPENED??? FINALLY, sobbing, she got it out -- she was playing with the phone and dialed 911. “I thought the phone didn’t work,” she blubbered. We were trying to ascertain if they answered or if she hung up when it started ringing. It seemed to be the latter.

We talked about the little boy who cried wolf and that we only call 911 for real emergencies. Through her sobs, she apologized profusely. Eventually we calmed her down and the kids went back to playing and the adults went back to lounging.

Within minutes, Isabel burst into tears & chaos erupted once again when she saw a police car drive by the house. We calmed her down AGAIN.

Isabel saw the police car drive by a second time and again with the waterworks. We reassured her that everything will be OK & that we still love her, etc.

Penny got on the phone with 911… they said someone called and hung up. When the 911 operator tried to call back, someone picked up the phone and hung up again, so they dispatched the police. Initially there was some confusion because Penny’s garage has its own address, but they straightened that out and the officer found the house.

When the officer came to the door, I thought Isabel was going to pass out. I explained the situation to the officer. He was stern with Isabel, but not mean. I’m guessing he has kids. Eventually Isabel was able to breathe again. She apologized many times and swore that she has learned her lesson about calling 911.

After all that, the hiding & finding of Easter eggs was pretty much anticlimactic.