Friday, August 1, 2008

Grandma gets struck (almost) by lightning

I went to visit my Grandma while I was home over the weekend, and if you've ever met her, you know that she's hysterical and entertaining, especially for a 92-year-old. In fabulous health, the woman is up-to-date on current events and has a razor-sharp wit. So while I'm visiting her, she asks if I've heard what happened to her and Martha the previous week. No, I tell her, I've not heard anything. I start to worry that it's something health-related, because 92 is pretty old.
Grandma embarks on a story about how Martha came by one evening wanting Grandma to go with her to Sonic to get a hot dog. Grandma agreed to go along for the ride in Martha's Crown Victoria, even though she'd already eaten. Off to Sonic they went, and Martha got her hot dog and Grandma a strawberry milkshake, and they headed for home where they were going to enjoy their treats in front of Martha's telly.
On the short drive home, the weather quickly turned ugly. It got windy, started to rain, and the next thing the old ladies knew they saw a bolt of lightning strike a tree, split it in half, and half of the tree came crashing down on top of the Crown Vic. Martha hit the brakes, and a man came running out of his house to see if they were all right.
What he saw was two old ladies, stunned silent in the Crown Vic, one holding a hot dog and the other a pink milkshake, with the car all beat to hell from the half-tree that was on top of it. The ladies didn't want to open the door for want of getting shocked should the car be charged, so the nice man cleared his way to the door and opened it. Both ladies were unhurt (thank goodness), and still had their Sonic foodstuffs. The mental image I get of this event is just outstanding.
Well, the insurance company won't fix Martha's car. They called it "an act of God," which for the most religious woman I've ever met, just seems too cruel. She's elderly and godly, for Chrissakes just fix the damn car!
At least God didn't want to hurt the old ladies, just the old Crown Victoria.

2 comments:

Hayley said...

Also, apparently when to police were called after the accident to come help them the dispatcher said "it's dinner hour and no one is available to help." To protect and serve, right?

Paris N. said...

Seriously? Two (very) elderly ladies are nearly struck by lightning and no police would come? It's a good thing it was Grandma and Martha, or that would have been bad news bears.