meredithelaine
you can take the girl out of jersey, but you can't take the jersey out of the girl

a beautiful day can still be a sad one


2005-04-18 The current mood of meredithelaine at www.imood.com

i cannot gush enough about how wonderful this weekend was.

but, i'm going to have to save that for later, because i've got something on my mind that i need to get out.

yesterday, dave and i decided to take a drive, since it was gorgeous out. so we plugged in the iPod, and drove up to High Point, NJ. the observation tower was closed, so we continued north to Port Jervis, ny, and continued up the "Scenic Bypass" (aka Route 97), which twists and turns around the mountains, and leads up and down the steep hills.

it was beautiful. blue skies, trees beginning to show their leaves, the Delaware River reflecting the sunlight. it seemed that everyone was on the road, taking advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery.

as i came around a curve, i saw several motorcycles parked at the left side of the road, a minivan parked at the right, and probably about 10 people just standing around at the side of the road. it's a very narrow roadway, so i slowed down to make my way through this grouping of people and vehicles.

i was curious as to what was going on - i assumed that the car was merely owned by someone in the house it was parked in front of, and that the bikers were parked at the other side of the road to take a break and enjoy the view of the river.

as i passed by, i realized that i was very, very wrong. a biker, who looked to me to between 45 and 55 years old, was lying on the ground. his face was pale grey, eyes closed, and it looked as if a few leather jackets had been wrapped around him.

it was then i realized, oh god, he lost control of his bike. dave said, "he's at least in shock, if not dead already. he did not look good at all."

as we drove away, my jaw was dropped, and my hand over my mouth in the "i can't believe what i just saw" way. i looked in the rearview mirror, and saw one of the other bikers walk over to the guardrail and get down on his knees, as if he was going to pray.

this was probably the scariest and saddest thing that i have seen (firsthand) in my entire life.

dave shut off the iPod, and we rode for several minutes in silence. he told me that if i found a decent spot on the side of the road, that i should pull over. this was already my plan. dave knows me well; he had to know that i was not okay, just as i had a feeling he was not okay either.

we came up to a parking area with picnic tables. i got out of the car and sat at one of the tables, pulled my knees up and wrapped my arms around myself. dave sat behind me and wrapped his arms around me. it was at that moment that i let go and started sobbing.

i was sobbing for someone i didn't know. someone who, just like myself, dave and every other person on Route 97, took advantage of a beautiful day and went for a ride. how is that fair? how is it that one decision, one change in the weather, could have made a difference? a thunderstorm would have most likely prevented his family from having to plan a funeral this week.

life is so fragile and so short.

dave and i continued on for a while. i didn't want to turn around and head back south on Route 97 towards the scene of the accident. but eventually, we realized that we had no choice. by the time we got back to the spot, the road was blocked off. we had to take a 10 or 20 mile detour through the mountains, just to get back to Route 97.

5 hours after we started our little adventure, we returned to my house. what would have been a simply fun memory turned into something much more. something deeper. i don't want my only memory of Orange and Sullivan Counties, NY, to be of this tragedy; i'm sure there will be future road trips along this same path for dave and i.

but for now, this is what i've got. and i don't think that i will ever forget it.

here's an article about the accident.

posted by: less-than3

spoke the truth!

[if you like what you read, please clix me!]

3:12 p.m.
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