Carla and her husband, Tom, had had four children in the past six years. They were beyond exhausted. Their youngest was six months old, and they felt in desperate need of a vacation.
So when Tom’s new boss offered the young family his home on a nearby lake, they jumped at the opportunity. Recognizing there would be no relaxation with four young children at a lake house, they splurged on a babysitter, Carla’s younger sister. They loaded up their car and drove two hours west for the weekend.
The house was beautiful! It included a boat and two Waverunners, which Tom’s boss had generously told them to enjoy. During nap time on the first day, Carla got the “ok” from her husband and her sister, jumped on one of the Waverunners and got the first taste of freedom she had felt in months. Maybe years. No one was attached to her leg, in her arms, or even calling her name.
She made quick note of the blue slide to the left of the property as she took off with the wind in her hair and the sun on her face. The lake was marvelous! It branched off into many different coves as she flew down the main channel in complete abandon.
At some point, Carla came back down to earth, and realized she better be careful or she could get lost. She pointed back in the direction of the blue slide, and (much to her dismay) noted several other such slides lining the shore. Her stomach lurched a bit as she realized she wasn’t exactly sure which one was “hers”.
As Carla repeatedly approached what she thought was the right property, she became more and more disoriented. She finally had to concede that she was indeed completely lost. When her eye caught the Waverunner’s gas gauge, it occurred to her that on top of being totally “unmoored”, she could also actually run out of gas in the middle of the lake.
Carla’s heart pounded in her ears, her palms were sweating and she began to feel a little queasy. Panic set in as too many childhood memories of being lost came to the forefront of her mind.
“Oh, Lord,” she mumbled audibly, “I really need you.” She had no cell phone (not wanting to risk it getting wet) and ultimately had to admit to herself that she had no choice but to flag down a passing boat while balancing on her floating machine.
“Where are you trying to get to? What’s the name of the neighborhood?” asked the weathered captain as he reluctantly stopped his boat at her frantic waving.
”I’m not sure,” Carla confessed. He rolled his eyes. ”Go to the Pelican Nest, and they’ll let you use a phone.” Carla stared blankly. “You do know where that is, right?” Beyond humiliated, she had to reveal that no, she had no idea where that was either. ”Jesus Christ!” the man cursed. “Follow me,” he barked as he turned his boat around and floored the gas. Carla followed the speedboat for twenty minutes to the Pelican Nest. When she got there, she quickly realized she had no rope with which to secure the Waverunner while she went inside to call her husband. She sheepishly asked her angry rescuer if he would dial her husband’s cell; and then proceeded to have a hard time retrieving the phone number from her frantic brain. The captain again spit out obscenities until Carla miraculously finally remembered the nine digit number. He dialed the number and disgustedly recused Tom from all “husbandly duties” as he explained the situation.
Carla thanked the man profusely for helping her and sat on the docked Waverunner while she waited for her husband to arrive and her heart to resume a normal rhythm. In about 30 minutes her sweet husband pulled his boss’s boat up alongside her at the Pelican Nest Marina. “I knew you had been gone too long,” he smiled down at her. “Do you have any idea how far away you are from the house?” he laughed. She ignored his gentle discipline; she was just happy to see him.
Carla floored the Waverunner the whole way home - following Tom in the speedboat. This time she was truly euphoric. The gratitude washed over her as she realized how happy she was to be getting back to her family. She said a prayer for her crabby rescuer and had to laugh out loud as she counted the many blue slides lining the shore. This is a true story.