"Edwards Luck"

(O.K. This is not REALLY the storm track, but rather what could happen if the hurricane takes a Tennessee turn, in hot pursuit of the Edwardses.....By the way, note the advisory number---this becomes relevant as you read on.....)


What do you call it when your parents are headed to Florida and the worst hurricane on record in the Atlantic Basin is headed right at them? You got it! Edwards Luck! We have had a joke in my family for a lot of years. It is along the lines of Murphy's Law, but just for our blood relatives.

It is not enough that I have 5 children to worry about, along with one very busy and accident-prone husband. I have to agonize this week over the safety of the brother who decided to go to Myrtle Beach and the parents who are on their way into harm's way. We had quipped at the last family gathering before they all left that one or the other would probably run into a hurricane. Of course, that was not a hard prediction to make, considering this monstrous hurricane season we have had.

My step-grandmother is ailing and has been for some time. Her sister, who is over 80 as well, has been almost single-handedly caring for her for well over a year now since a sizable stroke. My grandparents are in the 85-year-old range and surely not able to get themselves out in a disaster. Sister called Dad and told him they needed to get down there, as Grandmother is slipping away. What do you do? You almost have to go. I just wish they were all up here, where the family is concentrated so that we could care for them. But they are not. I am terribly worried for the safety of them all.

Mom and Dad called tonight, and they had made the full drive today---about 16 hours worth. When they got to their hotel, the clerk tried to put them in room 313. My Dad said, "No Way!" They got moved to 325. It is not so much superstition as it is that a lot of bad things have happened to him on the 13th. I don't blame him for being a little nervous with a Category 5 Hurricane staring at him with her big pronounced eye.

After all the Katrina and Rita mess, I can only imagine what pandemonium is going to ensue when they tell people to evacuate. The highways of Florida are going to be a parking lot.

I tried to get my parents to reconsider. After all, it is already pre-arranged that my grandmother would be carried to the hospital to weather the storm. She will be as safe as people can be in a hurricane. But my mother had already paid her money on Priceline.com for a room, and she was going! That is the difference in my mom and me. I guess she is a little more gutsy than I.

So, tonight, I long for all my family members that are displaced. I pray that God will keep them all safe until we can be together again.