Just checking in…

I’m just touching base lest you think I’ve disappeared. I’m totally immersed in my Storyworth project – I’ve actually been writing up a storm – memories are showing up in an odd order and I try to grab them while they’re here.

Here is a short snippet:

The Rambler

Everyone has a most-embarrassing-moment-ever moment in their life – a moment they would like to forget but it’s such a funny story everyone wants to remind you about it every time they see you – so you never get to forget or even pretend it didn’t happen because, you know, everyone still remembers.

I too have one of those…

I can’t say for certain how old I was when it happened my memory of it is only vivid because I’ve heard the story so often. I remember bits of the day, others have filled in the details and I’m fairly certain those details have become wildly exaggerated over the years.

We were ‘home’ in Winnipeg and taking a picnic to the lake for the day with Dad’s younger brother and his family. Someone thought it was a good idea for both families to ride in my uncle’s new and spacious Rambler (four adults and eight kids — makes sense right?). The barbecue, picnic and towels were crammed into the trunk and a dozen people were jammed inside the car.

They day was beautiful and sunny – I remember that. The beach was sandy and stretched for miles – I can see that part clearly. We played in the water for hours before the picnic was served – I only remember the playing part. Everyone was starving and ate like savage beasts, especially me apparently – this detail doesn’t surprise me I’ve always been fond of eating but I don’t actually remember doing the eating that day.

There was more room in the trunk on the trip back – the picnic had been consumed. But it was more cramped inside the car – everyone was bringing home a sunburn.

People were several layers deep in the backseat – the spaciousness of the Rambler struggled to accommodate us all. I was standing right behind the driver’s seat as my uncle steered the car down the winding road from the beach toward Winnipeg.

My most-embarrassing-moment-ever moment was right around one of those corners.

The details I remember of this part of the story are vastly different than those remembered by others – I was busy being the main character in the drama about to unfold – they were the captive audience.

Here goes….

My aunt said, “Elva doesn’t look very well.”
My mom said, “Elva has never been a thrower-upper.”
Elva said, “I don’t feel good.”
And then….
Seventeen hamburgers, half a watermelon and an ice cream cone landed in my uncle’s lap.

The audience went wild. The car swerved. My uncle tried not to add his lunch to the one he was now sitting in. And I began my mission to try and forget the whole thing ever happened.