I GOT MARRIED IN THE HOSPITAL --Part 1 The hospital is not the place that brides dream of to walk down the aisle, & certainly not their honeymoon destination of choice.... But when things dont go exactly as planned (which is seldom in the real world, my philosophy & attitude has always been to take whatever the enemy meant for evil & allow God to fix it! Now that is a pretty spiritual way of saying when life gives you lemons make lemonaide!) The date was set, October 13, 1984. Church wedding, all the frills! Small town wedding-- the ones that you plan yourself - no wedding planner- just me -- and Mamaw & Mom figuring it out on a very thrifty budget. The Wednesday night before the wedding I planned a Rice Bag party shower with my girlfriends & we did it at Bobbys tiny apartment -- Bobby was driving a truck locally back then, working lots of hours overtime, day & night with very little sleep. He came home just as the party started & although he was already dog tired he wouldnt be able to sleep in the tiny apartment with 10 giddy giggling girls in the house! So...a shower, a change of clothes, and off to a favorite hang out called Enochs in the small college town. Of course drinking buddies were there-- every night in a college town-- so he had his own impromptu bachelor party that Wednesday night. At midnight he called me to say he was on his way home & would I wait for him there to say goodnight before leaving to go back to Mamaws. Of course I agreed & laid down on the sofa to wait for him to arrive 15 minutes later. I fell asleep & awoke confused by the ring of the phone. No caller ID or cell phones in 1984--- Hello? A young boys quavering voice on the other end of the line, Hello, is this Mrs. Randall? The question threw me because I was not Mrs. Randall and coupled with being awakened from a deep sleep my reaction was disoriented & confused. I managed to mumble Yes after a bit of untranslatable jibberish. This is John & your husband wanted me to call you to come pick him up. He has been in an accident. There was something eerie in his voice that sent fear tingling up my spine-- my confusion doubled & I felt panic set in. An accident?? What?? When?? Where????? Is he ok?????? He is fine. He just needs you to come get him. He gave me the address & directions (no GPS in 1984) and with the assurance from this kid that Bobby was ok, I did what any bride-to-be would do! I went to the bathroom & fixed my hair, touched up my make up & made sure that I looked my best! The drive to the house where the accident had taken place was just a couple of miles away, about halfway between Bobbys apartment & the bar he had left over an hour earlier. It was a rainy, misty night-- the light mist of rain caused it to be more difficult to see-- it was foggy--the road was dark with few street lights, windy, & the houses were way off the road. As I neared the address I slowed to see which driveway was the right one, & inadvertantly pulled into the neighbors long windy drive. I got out of the car & the house was dark-- why not? It was 1am by now. Through the thicket of trees I heard a voice of a young man- Its the next house! Over here. I backed up slowly (I have never backed up well anyway) & as I reached the end of the driveway my headlights hit what seemed to be a huge silver Christmas tree- you know the ones that we used to have -- the stiff silver wands of tinsel that sparkled in the light. Again, I remember thinking, Who in the world is throwing away their Christmas tree in October?! So interesting what our minds think & remember --- I maneuvered to the next driveway, the lot was filled with trees & the house was way off the road. It was very very dark- pitch black except for what my headlights shown on. Quite eerie. As I parked at the end of the drive and got out of the car, my thoughts were where is Bobbys truck? & where is Bobby? Or the kid for that matter. The house was completely dark except for a dim porch light luminating the front door. As I shut the car door I heard a voice--Tracee-- its me- dont be shocked. Just come help me to the car & take me to the hospital. The voice was muffled but it was coming from the porch. Panic gripped me. I ran toward the sound of the voice & in the darkness I almost stumbled over Bobby- he was sprawled over the concrete steps of the front porch-- in the misty rain, his hands covering his face & his white cotton Bahamas party shirt stained a bright blood red-- dripping & wet -- dark red blood covered his chest & hands. Rushing past him I ran to the front door & knocked, no pounded!!! Help!! Call an ambulance!! Where are you?! The door remained closed & Bobby whispered, exhausted & weak--Tracee, please just take me to the hospital. If he calls an ambulance I will be arrested & lose my license. We can do this! My word for 2014 is Seriously? I argued briefly and then went back to the door banging-- a frightened ghost-white face of a teenage boy looked through the side glass panel of the door & I saw intense fear. Please! Hand me a towel before he bleeds to death! A moment later the door opened, a bath towel was shoved into my hands & the door shut just as quickly. I often wonder the mental turmoil that young boy went through to have a bloody man knock on his door on a rainy October night at midnight! Bobby is so amazing. HE directed me, step by step on how to get him to the car, holding his face, the towel immediately soaked in blood - I was worthless except to follow his direction and the drive to the hospital had begun. For those of you who know me, I cannot find my way out of my neighborhood without a GPS, and 1984 was no different. Bobby had to tell me where to turn, to slow down, that he was ok--- to watch the road instead of him-- I was crying from the moment I saw him & the tears burned & stung my eyes as I was calmed by the gentle tone of his voice. The drive to North Monroe Hospital seemed like an eternity! I pulled into the ambulance drop off-- ran inside & watched as they helped Bobby out of the car onto a stretcher & into a room-- it was then I collapsed!!
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 02:27:59 +0000
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