Redlight Ivan

Part 3 of 3 (see two posts below for the whole story):





Stephen had taken his fathers mini-van that morning so that we could drive more kids, smart idea! Well, you would think so. It wouldn't start. Dead battery. It had happened before so Stephen felt confident jumping it would do the trick. Gina, a fellow youth leader, started calling AAA while one of the moms looked for jumper cables. We located the cables before AAA answered and got the car started in a matter of minutes. Whew, we all sighed with relief. It was still about 80 degrees out and the thought of standing in the parking lot waiting for AAA was not a fun prospect. We loaded up the car with 3 Brinbaum kids (they are a nice family and we know them well), Evan (14), Forrest (12), and Grace (8), we also had two of their friends with us, Aaron (12), and his brother Charlie (14). Off we went. Everyone else in the other two cars were driving through at McDonald's but we didn't want to stop and risk not starting again so we headed straight home. Right outside the McDonald's, which was right outside Six Flags, we stopped at a red light and the car just died. I panicked! Stephen gabbed his phone to call AAA and found out it was dead so I gave him mine and he started dialing. The kids asked what was going on and Stephen was so calm, he told the kids to get out of the car, take Grace's hand,walk over to the grass outside of WaWa, sit down in the center and wait. Stephen was so smart about that cause we didn't have any lights on the car and it was dark and he was afraid we might get hit. After a few minutes of holding with AAA a tow truck pulls up next to us! He asked if we needed help and we said yes please. He was a AAA guy too! So he tried jumping us with no luck. He than pushed the car over to the shoulder and out of the intersection. I decided to take the kids into McDonald's and get them some food and out of the heat. It was there that I almost lost my head.



Grace asked to go the bathroom. I said yes but immediately after she was gone I was thinking "is it ok for her to do that? are 8 year old girls allowed to do that?!". I ordered the food set the other kids at a table and went into the bathroom. She was washing her hands and smiled at me when I came in. She was fine. My heart started beating again. So there we are sitting in McDonald's. I had no idea what was going on. I wanted to cry s. Than Michelle walked in, Larissa and Joes step-mom. She had gotten a call from Gina (whom Stephen had called when we broke down), and told me what was going on. Between her and her husband Gary, Gina, and the other youth leader the kids could fit in the cars and they would take them all home. I had to ride in the tow truck with Stephen. So I thanked them, told them the whole thing scared me out of having kids for quite some time, and ran out to meet Stephen.



We hopped in the truck and I wanted to cry again. We were still over an hour from Stephens and I had to drive myself home from there. I don't even know what time it was at that point. But the guy was so nice. He was eastern european of some sort, young, and very talkative and kind. We told him funny stories from the day and he asked us questions about this and that while listening to rap music. Then he got pulled over. We pull into the WaWa parking lot in Flemington (so close to home!). He had apparently run a red light. No ticket for that just for a burnt out license plate light. He announced he needed a cigarette after that experience so I treated Stephen to a coffee and some donuts. We got back into the truck, made it to Stephens house, and I got home by 12am with sore legs, a sun burnt nose, and a terrible head ache.



It was such a stressful day to say the least. But I laughed alot and got the chance to get to know some genuinely nice kids. So I'd say it was worth it. I'm never going back to Great Adventure though.