This evening I got a phone call from my daughter, Stinkeroo, who was en route from Tennessee to Georgia to visit with her in-laws for Thanksgiving. She was traveling by herself with Sweet Stuff and Sunshine because my son-in-law had to stay later for work. He was about three hours behind them on the trip. Near Birmingham the traffic on the interstate came to a standstill. About that time Sunshine started complaining of a stomach ache. During our phone conversation, Sunshine started throwing up, and the phone call ended. They were stuck in traffic that wasn't moving at all, the next exit was over two miles away, it was dark, and the two year-old was vomiting repeatedly in the back seat. Not a good situation. I awaited anxiously for a call telling me everything was okay.
About 20 minutes later my phone rang again. "Mom, don't hang up the phone. I'm at an awful gas station - it's the only one here, and I'm trying to get the kids cleaned up, and it's dark and spooky here. I'm going to put the phone down, but don't hang up!" Then she set the phone down. Minutes passed. It was a bad connection. I heard a few seconds of the children and my daughter talking - loudly, and then a few seconds of silence. Noise. Silence. Noise. Silence.
She was back on the phone. "Are you still there?" Yes, I'm still there. "Keep holding on. I'm setting the phone down again." I stayed on the line, but after a few minutes the signal was lost. I called back - no answer. I was outside (to hopefully get a better signal) pacing up and down the driveway.
Stinkeroo is 30 years old. She's mature and responsible and I have enormous confidence in her. But she was by herself with two children, one of whom was throwing up and they were in an area of Birmingham that she described as spooky. I didn't even know WHAT area of Birmingham. If I needed to contact someone to help her, my only information was that she was at a "spooky" gas station right off I-65 near Birmingham. My heart was pounding.
Everything ended all right. She got the girls cleaned up enough to get back in the car and travel the remaining three hours to their destination. However, the experience reminded me yet again that parents never stop parenting. Stinkeroo may be a grown-up, but she's still my little girl.
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