Father's Day and a Lesson for Mom

 I hope all of the terrific dads out there had a great Father's Day!  We did!  The kids gave Dad a "World's Greatest Dad" T-shirt and hat.  They also gave him two books on why a daughter needs a dad and why a son needs a dad.  I'm stumped between two ideas, but told my husband I'd be making a decision and getting his present this week.

I did pretty well considering it was my first Father's Day without my dad.  He passed away June 27, 2009.  I am still coping well by thinking of all of the good memories whenever I miss him, which is everyday.

We ended up going to a local minor league baseball game with Andy's Cub Scouts.  It was a wonderful way to spend Father's Day!  My kids, the weather watchers, were very concerned about the forecast which was "scattered thunderstorms".  We even stopped on the way to buy rain ponchos as we know what kind of downpours we get around here.  Even if we ran for cover, it would be a long walk to the parking lot.

Turns out that we really didn't need them.  Our terrific pack leader got us great seats, under a roof!  Sure enough, the storms moved in.  The downpours happened in a big way, but we were covered (both by a roof and by the ponchos, those of us who wanted to put them on).

The game was delayed at the 5th inning.  Then, it ended up being suspended to be played another day.  There was just too much water on the field (3 inches had fallen in less than one hour!).  We left the stadium with free tickets for a weeknight game next week as compensation.

The sun was out now as we made the trek back to our car.  See, the unexpected traffic and poncho stop made us miss the beginning of the game, so we had to park far, far away.  Unfortunately, the rain made it twice as humid as it was before the storm, but that's OK, because we were VERY lucky.

As we approached the parking lot, we realized that about a dozen cars had been flooded!  They were instructed to park in a low-lying area next to a building.  The heavy rain must have poured right off of the old building's roof and into the parking lot.  There had to be 3 feet of water!  We saw at least 2 cars flooded up to their WINDSHIELDS in water!  Many other cars were pulled over with their hoods, tailgates/trunks and doors open with water coming out of the cabin.

All I could think of was those POOR families on Father's Day!  We got to our car and realized how bad it could have been for us.  I had mentioned that I have everything but the kitchen sink in our minivan.  In fact, I rode in the passenger seat contorted around this week's unopened mail and other junk that I had thrown there while driving.  I knew this was unacceptable when we pulled out to go to the game, but now I've learned my lesson.

What if our car had been submerged?  We would have lost all kinds of important things that I probably didn't know were buried in the trunk or in front of the passenger seat!  I have been better about keeping the middle of the car cleaner, but still.  LESSON LEARNED!