A nervous wreck

How am I going to survive the next two hours? My parents came over to spend the weekend with us. Just as they were leaving, we heard a loud bang. My heart skipped a beat and I went running up the street like a madwoman when I realised it had been my dad's car. Because of the fiesta in our village, our street was packed with cars and revellers, and as my dad was trying to avoid the crowds, he hit a tree. Luckily no one got hurt, but my dad was pretty shaken up. His car is his pride and joy. You see, my dad lost a leg to cancer 20 years ago and he relies on his car to get around. However, the fact of the matter is that he's 80 years old and doesn't have the same reflexes as he used to, which accounts for the many minor accidents he's had in the last few years. He wanted to get out of the car to inspect the damage and completely freaked out when my mom couldn't open the door on the passenger's side. I made sure he stayed put, assuring him that it wasn't anything a mechanic couldn't fix.

So, now I'm a nervous wreck. My parents live about 2 hours away and mom's cell phone is off because she always forgets to charge the battery (what the fuck do you need a cell phone if it's not on for emergencies?), which means I have to wait for them to get home to be assured that they're ok. My dad was close to tears when he left and I really worry about the journey home up those twisting mountain roads. I've called an aunt of mine letting her know what happened, so in case they're not home in 2 hours, they'll send a small search party out looking for them.

My husband thinks I'm overreacting, that they'll be just fine. The people who witnessed the accident and gathered round were going on and on about how it was just a fricken car, nothing to freak out over. Why would a grown man spill tears over a headlight or a bumper? But I know exactly how much that car means to my dad. It represents his mobility; it reprents life to him. Last year when he had a stroke, I remember him weeping like a child because he thought he'd never be able to drive again. Very few people understand that kind of attachment to a car, but I know exactly where he's coming from. His happiness and his freedom depend on that car.

So, now I have to wait around for that damn phone to ring. Please let them get home safe & sound!


Update (6.25pm): I'm fooling around here on my blog, re-arranging things to keep me busy while waiting for that DAMN phone to ring! Please ring soon!!! I can't take this anymore. My aunt called quite nonchalantly to find out how I was doing. She's pretending to be all cool about this, but I know her so well. A nervous wreck like myself. My husband just went out for his daily jog. How the fuck do men do it? Here I am feeling as if my whole world is about to come crumbling down and he goes out jogging. He's so annoyingly cool about everything. I remember once, when we were going through infertility treatments, we were at the hospital for one of the routine ultrassounds when I got a call informing us that our apartment had flooded and water was coming down the staircase. We came rushing home to a nightmare scenario, a pipe had burst and there was water everywhere. What do I do? Grab mops and buckets and what have you to start cleaning up the mess. What does he do? Prepare lunch, sit at the kitchen table, slowly nibbling away as he's watching the news on TV...with water up to his fricken ankles. I know, I know, I should be a bit more like him. But I'm not! And right now I could do with a little "freaking out" solidarity from him. Ok, I've had my rant.