Hit And Run

Most people were very alarmed and concerned when they heard about the drama of our car crash disaster, wanting to know details and calling for updates. But not Sparky's mom. She didn't seem too fazed by it, and in fact was rather lackadaisical about the whole affair. But it turns out that she had problems of her own. They kind of trump ours, really. Her troubles concern a hit and run situation where a bicyclist was hit and severely injured. And the hit and run driver was her! She hit him as she was making a left-hand turn, knocking him off of his bike. She then proceeded to run right over him, and kept on driving. She did not see him, and at the time thought she had run over a curb or something. (At 84 she is not the world's best driver, and according to Sparky, she was never very good even when she was younger. But she likes being independent, and she still has good health.)

She read about the hit and run accident in her local paper, the Rushville Republican a couple of days after the incident. She got to thinking after reading the description of the car (small and blue), the description of the occupant (a single female driver) and the time and place of the accident (shortly before 9:00 a.m. on Third and Arthur Street) that she could have been the hit and run driver. She went out to look at her car, and sure enough, there was a huge dent in the front of it that hadn't been there before. So she decided that it must have been her, and she turned herself in. Luckily, she was commended for coming forward, and no charges were made against her. I'm not sure how she didn't notice that she hit and ran over the bicyclist, but she is pretty short, and she is old, and like I said, she is not the world's best driver. Her insurance will cover everything, and hopefully that will be the end of it.

I don't know how the bicyclist is faring these days, but he is out of the hospital and recovering at home. The nutty part of this story is actually his situation. He is a 62 year old divorced man who is living with his ex-wife and two other men who were also once married to this ex-wife. Three ex-husbands and one ex-wife all living together in a little house outside of town with no car, no phone, and one mangled bike...

Anyway, Joyce has been rather embarrassed by all of this, but is thankful that things were not worse. And an update on our situation: today, after almost 6 weeks, I have my car back. Finally! They washed it and detailed it, it's all sparkly and clean and looks like a brand new car again, only without that new car smell. Now we just need the stairs repaired. Or we could just install a rope, ladder, and slide. Bee would like that, but not so much Glenn the Dog. Or me, for that matter. I'm guessing that in another six weeks, we'll have it fixed, too.