Along The Road

     After running unsupervised for more than a year in Oregon, Davey and Harold were about to be sent home. The next step was: how to get George Ransom Owen’s young sons back to Detroit.

     It was warm enough for a cross-country drive so Edward, the boys’ oldest brother, went to retrieve the little scoundrels. Some other family members went along for the drive, but I cannot recall who. It was about 1946.

     On the road they were, once again, camping sometimes along the way, Edward using his Army issued (or so I was told) dual coffee-maker-water heater-maybe cookstove at picnic tables. If I find that old relic in my camping gear, I’ll snap a photo and share it. I also thought that it belonged to my Grammaw Farmer.

     It was quite the journey for two young boys. Unlike their bus trip, they got to tour places like Strawberry Reservoir and the Kodachrome Basin. More than likely, those iconic destinations were off the beaten path as the saying goes, but for a man who just got out of the US Army, it was a pleasure for Edward to take his young brothers to see the country for which he served.

     One eventful day, a convertible passed them on the highway. The young teen drivers waved and acted like they wanted to race. They’d slow down, then speed up repeatedly. The sun was bright. The girls wore sunglasses and scarves. Edward just grinned but would not take the bait. Finally the driver in the other car waved then sped off, going over a hill. Only a few moments passed as Edward’s car crept over the ridge to a horrific scene: The convertible had sped into a truck carrying new sewer pipes. The front of the sportscar was folded into itself. Edward slowed his vehicle and the boys saw something that my father, Davey, never forgot – a young woman’s head tumbled out from one of the cracked pipes, still wearing the scarf, landing on what remained of the convertible’s crumpled hood.

     There was nothing that could be done. If not for Edward refusing the challenge, perhaps my father could have died.

     I don’t know how to end this story. Nothing else eventful happened along the road home to Michigan after that accident, but two things can be learned A. No matter how cock-sure you are of your driving abilities and vehicle, don’t drive recklessly; and B. It’s wiser to keep a cool head in every situation and just smile.