From the Heart
“So, first of all let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself.”
– Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inauguration Speech as President of the United States, 1933
Obviously, President Roosevelt had never been lost, in the dark, driving on a mountain road in Kentucky.
Let me explain …
A few weeks ago, Chuck and I took a road trip to Tampa to visit our Florida families. 17 hours straight through. We made it an adventure, a very grueling adventure.
The adventure took a turn, a wrong turn, on the way back.
It was my turn to drive after a quick stop at an “interesting” gas station near Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Chuck was sleeping as we entered Kentucky. I knew my eye doctor had cautioned me about driving after dark with my cataracts getting worse. I had heeded his advice … until then.
As Chuck was awakening and my eye sight on the road was worsening, I told Chuck I would take the next exit so he could drive.
As I turn onto the off ramp of the exit, it took a severe curve to the right. I saw no gas stations. No fast food signs. Even worse, I saw no lights … pitch dark.
I looked for a place to pull over. There was none.
As we began our ascent onto a mountain, I looked for a driveway, a road to turn on to. None. Not even a wide place in in the road.
I began to panic. Chuck was trying to calm me.
I began to cry. I began to pray out loud for a miracle. Not a parting of the sea or water into wine. Just a wide place in the two-lane road. Nothing.
I was terrified. My terror bordered on slight hysterics.
I was lost. I could not see clearly. We were ascending what had to be the tallest mountain in Kentucky.
Of all the exits on I-75, I chose the one to nowhere.
Chuck kept reassuring me that we would soon find a place to turn around. I think maybe he was trying to reassure himself.
Finally, he saw a sign (I surely could not see it). It said “truck lane ahead.” To us it read, “place to turn around.”
As soon as I stopped, I had visions of getting hit by a semi-truck or stepping into a den of copperhead snakes or being robbed at gun point (as if anyone else was on the road – let alone hiding in the rocks). Think serious horror movie flashbacks.
I rushed out of the car, as if I were a teenager doing a Chinese fire drill. Chuck slowly got out and was probably contemplating the degree of craziness of his terrified wife.
As soon as he began a U-turn, of course, another car comes descending toward us from around the bend. He attempts the U-turn, which is nearly impossible in a Ford Flex. It has the turning radius of a semi-truck. Yes, I do tend to exaggerate, but it’s my story to tell.
It was about a two-mile stretch, descending back down this huge mountain. I thanked the good Lord for the wide place in the road and for such a calm husband.
I’m sure there are lessons I should learn from this “adventure?” but all I know is I have a great story to tell.
There was more about fear in President Roosevelt’s speech. Words calling fear, unreasoning and unjustified terror.
Like I said, President Roosevelt never had been on a dark road on a mountain in Kentucky with no place to turn around. THAT is justified terror! THAT is justified fear!