It was a night NOT to be on a small motorbike!
I picked up my aunt at 6pm and had suggested to Chris that if the weather had closed in, he was to have left his motorbike at her house ( he commutes to his University by train and only "pops" back a forth from cottage to station on his moterbike) and I would take them both up the 600 foot hill back to Trelawnyd.
Now Chris was not at my aunts house when I arrived, so thinking that he had gone ahead we battled the elements and zig zagged up the hill back home. Chris was not at there , even though it was way past the time he usually arrived, so I checked he phone and my voice mail to see if there were any messages. Nothing!
I rang his mobile phone.... straight to answerphone. It was then that I experienced a creeping uneasiness that something awful had happened
I have never really had a big "worry" about Chris safety before,even though we have been together over a decade, and it is an awful, awful feeling to experience I can tell you. He is a complete creature of habit, so if he has been delayed messages are always left....so in my overactive and uncharacteristically worried imagination I had visions of him being sideswiped in the dark by a blundering lorry or tractor.
Leaving Judy in charge of the food I ventured out to look for him on the country roads and minutes later passed him on the main road between the village and the next village of Dyserth. Apparently he had tried to drive up the 1 in 4 hill and just could not negotiate the steep road curves given the lashing rain, so had rode the long way around the country roads back home.
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| Prestatyn Hill between the town and Trelawnyd ( Araf is the Welsh word for slow) |
I agree. Rhonda drives 120klm round trip on a "Highway" described as the 3rd worst road in Austrlia almost every day of the week. I often wait of an eveing, counting the minutes and start worrying when she is twenty minutes late home - allowing her time to stop or petrol and do a bank trip!
ReplyDeleteI experience this feeling of dread often - with hubby being a policeman and my oldest child away from home for the first time. So glad he was safe. xxxxxxxxxxx
ReplyDeletePhew. I feel for you John. I have a sort of magic mantra that I say to her indoors every time we part company for the day. It's, "Don't get squished and don't fall over". I've become almost superstitious about it, which is also unlike me.
ReplyDeleteI like happy endings! I bet he called you a worry wart.
ReplyDeleteA very good realization that many do not make until it is too late.
Gratitude for what/who we have is always a good thing, but (because I can WORRY for ENGLAND!) it needs to be tempered by 'the simplest explanation is generally what has happened.
ReplyDeleteCan't tell you how many times (in my head) I've had the kids in intensive care when all that's happened is they missed the bus!
Worry makes wrinkles too...
Phew, glad he's okay! It's like when the deer ran into Gordon's car the other week... it so easily could have been much worse, but just the car was wrecked, not him. Yet we can't worry about this stuff 24 hours a day or we'd go nuts.
ReplyDeleteThat is one steep grade!!!
My mum, who lives in Llandudno said the weather was terrible and had been for a couple of days. We will probably get that soon!!
ReplyDeleteGlad all was well
PS did you have a nice meal in Osbourne House last week?
Sue
sue
ReplyDeleteit was lovely!!!
I so hear you John. Many times over 38 years and this kind of scenario pops up... oh my heart!
ReplyDeleteSo glad that Chris was safe. I'm sure he appreciated knowing that if something had happened, you were there looking for him.
ReplyDeleteI often think about how we (I) tend to go to bed every night, completely taking for granted that our children (friends/family) are all safe. It seems that we are only one phone call away from devastation.
Like Knatolee said: we can't worry about it all the time or we'd go nuts! However, we sure can be grateful for every day that goes by with everyone safe and sound!
I think that is true of many things in our life. People are often to quick to complain about that they don't have when they should be thankful for what they do have.
ReplyDeleteI go through this a whole lot with DH, he's had 7 wrecks in the last 15 years, he works in dangerous places - either electrical or tons of weight in the balance. He can be gone for weeks at a time and I wait for him to call to check on me. The worst calls are from someone else! The waiting is so hard!
ReplyDeleteChris was probably worried about you, too, since he didn't get a message to you. Bet you were both happy to see each other!
ReplyDeleteThe lane in the photo - two way traffic??
Glad to see everyone safe and sound!
So glad to hear he was safe! Those can be some long, anxious times can`t they?
ReplyDeleteI hate when I get myself worked up about honeyman, certain something terrible has happened. I guess we all do it because we love them so much.
ReplyDeleteYes John, something like that can certainly POP one back to reality very quickly!
ReplyDeleteIt's a part of life I think no one can ever be ready for. Sometimes it's just too difficult to keep your wits about you. Good that Chris was safe.
Jim
It's always the "what-if's" that drive us to biting our fingernails.
ReplyDeleteWhen my husband was serving his Country in Iraq, I worried constantly, nowadays, it's the grandchildren and their driving habits.
I'm glad everything turned out OK for you both, that's one dangerous looking hill !
It is a sickening feeling. The niggling doubt that is quickly flooded by a rising tide of panic.
ReplyDeleteAnd then, when they turn up safe and sound and see you almost blubbing, they can't help but laugh.
That was such a worry. We were talking of this today with the owner of one of the boats Roddy works on.
ReplyDeleteOn a transatlantic crossing one year, the last message I got was... Seen a whale - so close to the boat you could touch it...
then all went silent !!!
All was well. Jess will be going on the crossing next year with her dad & I'm worrying already !
Glad everything is ok - good writing here. Peace
ReplyDeleteGlad that he's okay!
ReplyDeleteI've had a few of those heart-stopping moments when you're scared for your spouse, and realize how important they are in a rush. Terrifying.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right John. Though people dream of winning the Lottery or having other dreams come true, very often the real dream, the real treasure is already right there in front of them.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right John. I'm glad Chris is okay and that nothing bad happened. Hope the rest of the evening with your aunt was enjoyable. I'm still thinking about the pies you were telling us about! Hope they were yummy.
ReplyDeletePhew! Glad Chris is safe! The hubster flies back and forth across country, and drives all over the northeast, a couple times every month and after five years I still worry. Like Tom a magic mantra has developed (although it's nowhere near as colorful as his!) "Travel safe" is what I always say at the airport (and at the end of every email, text, phone call, mental conversation, and day) and if I ever for some reason forget to say it, I start having heart palpitations until I hear from him again. Our deep love for one another can make us so vulnerable, can't it? And yet I wouldn't trade it for anything.
ReplyDelete