Tonight I had the pleasure of sharing dinner with my parents and the privilege of hearing some sage advice that I needed. I’m really grateful to have both of my parents in my life, they are two of my best friends and I love them very much. It was a good night, but it is not something I will write about this evening. Instead, I want to tell a story about my childhood and the day that I almost lost them both forever.
Close your eyes and go back in time with me, not exactly sure how far, but let’s call it around 32 years ago, ok? That would make me about 4 years old, give or take, and that’s about right because I was not yet reading at the time. My parents had brought me to Pennsylvania to visit family and on the day in question we were off to see the wonders of a natural treasure known as Penn’s Cave. As their website clearly states (although 32 years ago there was no such thing as a website) there are 48 steps leading down to the entrance of the cave. I remember walking down those steps almost as clearly as if it was yesterday. Somewhere among those 48 there was a sign which described the wonders that we were about to experience and showed a large diagram depicting a cross section of the cave. At the top of the picture there was grass, trees, the familiar landscape we were leaving behind. And if you happened to be a young child looking at the picture you might also have noticed that it showed large cracks beginning at the soil and leading straight down into the depths of the cave. Hmm, large cracks don’t look like a great idea to have in the ceiling of a cave you are about to enter. At least, that’s what I was thinking at the time. So I turned to the smartest person I knew, who happened to be in close proximity, “Dad, what are all those cracks in the picture?”
Ah, my father. He is still probably the smartest person I know even all these years later. I’d like to think that I inherited some of his intelligence, although not enough. I did inherit a few other gems from him in spades, a hot temper and a dry sense of humor are among them. And at the moment when his sweet little girl looked up at him and inquired about this troubling sign she was viewing, it was the latter that fueled his answer.
“It’s showing how water trickles through cracks from above when it rains and makes cracks in the ceiling of the cave. It might just collapse at any moment.” I imagine that there was probably a smirk on his face at the time and my mom probablyrolled her eyes at his sarcasm. Perhaps she even tried to correct this invalid statement by telling me it was about the formation of stalactites and stalagmites. I honestly do not know. I did not hear anything else, I was frozen solid, confused beyond words and terrified. We were descending into a dark cold creepy cave and the CEILING MIGHT COLLAPS ON US AT ANY MOMENT????? Are you people CRAZY???? Those were the words in my head, but nothing came out of my mouth. I believe what emerged was more like a quiet, panicked, “I don’t want to go.”
But I was small and everyone was still moving forward down down down the stairs and I found myself carried along too. Soon I could see that there was a boat in the water inside the cave and it became clear that we were to get on it. Now my heart was beating quite loudly and I found my voice a little clearer. ”I don’t want to go.”
“Don’t be silly, it will be fun.”
Um, no thanks. Doesn’t sound like much fun to me, I think I’ll pass. But my suddenly insane parents continued towards the boat, they got ON the boat and it was clear that there were going into the cave. And I snapped. I had a tantrum that would have made any self respecting two year old proud. I was NOT getting on that boat. Was I the only sane person here? What was going on?
My parents could not understand my fit, children having fits are not generally known to be excellent communicators. And they were not going to give in to the screaming lunacy of a child. They left me behind with my grandfather and sailed off into the cave of death. As I watched them drifting away my screams echoing back to me I wiped my fast flowing tears away to try to catch one last glimpse of my beloved parents before they were buried alive.
In the hour that followed my hysterics eventually gave way to that hiccupy gasping breathing that kids do after a good long cry. I waited next to my Grandfather in silence, prepared to run for the steps the moment the ceiling started to go. I wondered if I would be left to live with my grandfather, which was another unpleasant thought. I wondered how this terrible event had come to pass. And as I sat there wondering a miraculous thing happened, their boat returned! I could not believe my eyes, it was them, they were back, they survived! I was overjoyed and I was anxious to get the heck OUT of this place before our luck ran out.
And that is the story of how we all survived a near miss with death in the bowls of a cave in Pennsylvania. I learned a few things on that day that are worth repeating.
1. Children do not see the world in the same way as adults and this can cause some really big problems if you’re not careful.
2. You need to speak up and speak clearly if you want anyone to understand you. If it’s important, you better make yourself heard.
3. I love my mom and dad. Even though you left me at the dock, you did come back and you’ve been there for me ever since.
xxoo
