I’m having an odd day.
I began with this tea, one that I like but had tucked away too long and should have been drinking. It’s not old or anything like that…but has escaped from my vision. We do that, forget a tea in the back of some other tea that we’ve taken to heart.
I shared a pot of Tangerine Guayusa with my granddaughter last night
while we made tea and chocolate dusted toffee and watched ‘The Artist’ on Netflix.
There was the Guranse…so I put it out for the morning pot of tea.
This is a yum Winter tea. It has all the maple black tea taste I remember with a bit of malt. Very nice on a cold day.
Then I read a Facebook note from my daughter. A reminder of something that happened 24 years ago today. A horror.
My daughter and 3 other girls were driving down Skyway from Paradise, CA to Chico. The road is on a ridge with canyons on both sides, quite beautiful. Two lanes up the mountain and two down with a wide buffer between. The division of upward and downward lanes wasn’t even. At times, you could look uphill or downhill on the oncoming traffic.
Katrina turned 17 on Dec. 7th and my daughter was turning 17 on the 12th. I knew the driver a little. The other girl I didn’t know. In fact, I had no idea the girls were going to Chico.
It’s amazing that all 4 girls wore their seat belts in a new convertable. California hadn’t passed a seatbelt law yet.
At some time, on one of the mountain turns…the driver lost control, flipped over and over the median and ended up in the uphill lane upside down. The driver and front seat passanger got out and my daughter and Katrina were trapped in the back.
A fire started and someone stopped with an extinguisher and put out the fire.
A tow truck driver arrived and had a heart attack and died on the spot.
The fire department arrived and used the jaws of life and cut out my daughter and Katrina.
I received a call to get to the hospital in Chico but nobody would say anything else. My son had my car and I couldn’t reach anyone to take me to the hospital for quite a bit…until I found a friend of my mom’s.
Going down Skyway, all we could see was a massive traffic jam for miles and miles…not knowing that this had anything to do with my
daughter.
At the hospital I was briefed. My daughter was in shock but fine. Katrina was dead. She died instantly. My daughter didn’t know and was not to be told yet, she was still too fragile.
When I was allowed to tell her the next day, she somehow knew. She remembered and was heartbroken. What grief for such a young girl, and what a big heart she has always had full of compassion.
Every year my daughter still misses Katrina. A sweet daughter of Hawaii who lived in a difficult situation at home, but had such a pure heart and deep love for others just like my Annalisa.
I sat with her mother in a bar while she got drunk. Me, drinking coffee, making sure she got home safely. She was mad for awhile that my daughter had lived.
I can’t imagine such sadness.
Memory Eternal Katrina Afong.
People who liked this
Comments
Oh my gosh that is so incredibly sad. I have a friend who frequents a road that sounds similar near Los Angeles, and I swear every time he’s there he posts some update about being careful because someone’s flipped their car or lost control on a motorcycle.
A parent’s worst nightmare! As far as the tea, it is an odd coincidence that I drank Organic Guranse this afternoon and put my review in. I liked it too.
So sad, I appreciate you willing to share this with us Bonnie. I think there is someone cutting some strong onions next to me though.
Oh no, how very tragic. That sounds like such a dangerous area.
I feel good that since I posted this my daughter came by and we made some more toffee with tea infused in it. Such a sweetheart. She turns 40 on 12-12-12! No kidding!
The lapse of time when you didn’t know if Analisa was ok must have been a nightmare…I was hit by a car when I was 8 and my mom still gets chocked up when we talk about it. I can only imagine what it does to you with such a close call!
I reread your story about Mr. Gill today. So many people are sad around Holiday’s. My cousin and his wife were broadsided by a woman who ran a red light 2 days before Christmas and both were killed about 5 years ago. Nobody ever expects tragedy. Some people become bitter and hard, and others honor the memories of those they love by deeds of compassion and kindness towards others. Not easy to do, but nothing worth doing is easy as they say. I’m sure your mother is thankful for you! (So am I and we’re never met!)
Ok Bonnie, now you make me tear up…and I’ve never met you but I know kindness has your picture right next to it in the dictionary… good reminder that things must never be taken for granted.
Oh no that is a sad story. Breaks my heart.
I’ve never been in a serious car accident, but my Mum has been in two that she should not have survived. On the hwy, hit by a drunk driver going 180km/h and then yrs before that, squished between a mac truck and the guard rail.
I didn’t find out about either one til she was home safe, and I still worried about her like mad. Makes me grateful to have family. Online line and blood related xxo
Sorry to hear this sad story, but also grateful on your behalf for your child being spared. I love the relationships you have with your children & grandkids, in part because it reminds me of the relationships I have with mine! I brought them into the world & raised them, but now they are really my best friends.
You are a strong & compassionate woman!
I know this is an odd place to write things like this, but I also know that lots of people are not happy at this time of year. I wanted to say Hey! Drop me a note if you’re sad! Drop me a note if you’re not sad too! We’re all here together!
Thanks for sharing this, Bonnie. In August of 2010 my uncle died in a motorcycle accident (he was my dad for most of my life). I always miss him this time of year.
Memory Eternal for your Uncle Claire. Of course you will always miss him.
Oh my gosh that is so incredibly sad. I have a friend who frequents a road that sounds similar near Los Angeles, and I swear every time he’s there he posts some update about being careful because someone’s flipped their car or lost control on a motorcycle.
A parent’s worst nightmare! As far as the tea, it is an odd coincidence that I drank Organic Guranse this afternoon and put my review in. I liked it too.
So sad, I appreciate you willing to share this with us Bonnie. I think there is someone cutting some strong onions next to me though.
Oh no, how very tragic. That sounds like such a dangerous area.
I feel good that since I posted this my daughter came by and we made some more toffee with tea infused in it. Such a sweetheart. She turns 40 on 12-12-12! No kidding!
The lapse of time when you didn’t know if Analisa was ok must have been a nightmare…I was hit by a car when I was 8 and my mom still gets chocked up when we talk about it. I can only imagine what it does to you with such a close call!
I reread your story about Mr. Gill today. So many people are sad around Holiday’s. My cousin and his wife were broadsided by a woman who ran a red light 2 days before Christmas and both were killed about 5 years ago. Nobody ever expects tragedy. Some people become bitter and hard, and others honor the memories of those they love by deeds of compassion and kindness towards others. Not easy to do, but nothing worth doing is easy as they say. I’m sure your mother is thankful for you! (So am I and we’re never met!)
Ok Bonnie, now you make me tear up…and I’ve never met you but I know kindness has your picture right next to it in the dictionary… good reminder that things must never be taken for granted.
Oh no that is a sad story. Breaks my heart.
I’ve never been in a serious car accident, but my Mum has been in two that she should not have survived. On the hwy, hit by a drunk driver going 180km/h and then yrs before that, squished between a mac truck and the guard rail.
I didn’t find out about either one til she was home safe, and I still worried about her like mad. Makes me grateful to have family. Online line and blood related xxo
Sorry to hear this sad story, but also grateful on your behalf for your child being spared. I love the relationships you have with your children & grandkids, in part because it reminds me of the relationships I have with mine! I brought them into the world & raised them, but now they are really my best friends.
You are a strong & compassionate woman!
I know this is an odd place to write things like this, but I also know that lots of people are not happy at this time of year. I wanted to say Hey! Drop me a note if you’re sad! Drop me a note if you’re not sad too! We’re all here together!
Thanks for sharing this, Bonnie. In August of 2010 my uncle died in a motorcycle accident (he was my dad for most of my life). I always miss him this time of year.
Memory Eternal for your Uncle Claire. Of course you will always miss him.