PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 69 - Highway Gas Tank Puncture
Pawpaw loves Connor, Bryson and Archer!
I miss you guys so much. I hope you find these messages some day. I want you to know that I love you. I never left you. I was no longer allowed to visit you. I hope these messages help you know your Pawpaw and your family better. All my love forever, Pawpaw
Highway Gas Tank Puncture
In
We were having a
fantastic time driving down the highway and feeling like adults. Suddenly the
car in front of us swerved violently. Before we could do anything, Scott and I
both saw an entire car exhaust system skidding down the highway toward Scott’s
Dad’s car. Scott did a good job of controlling the car as the junk exhaust
system went under the car. There was a lot of loud grinding and banging noises
before it came out the back end of the car.
I smelled something
odd. Scott looked over at me at the same time that I looked over at him. We
both smelled gasoline. Scott looked at the instrument panel and said, “Look at
the gas gauge!” I looked over and saw the needle on the gas gauge rapidly
dropping from nearly full toward empty.
Even though there
was a lot of traffic on the highway, Scott was able to coast the car off to the
berm. We both got out of the car and walked quickly to the back of the car
where the last of the gasoline was pouring out onto the hot asphalt. We both
crawled under the car. We found a hole in the gas tank that was as big as a
baseball. The exhaust pipe we had hit had poked a huge hole in the full gas
tank.
Back in 1979, cell
phones had not been invented. We were far from home in a disabled car. Scott
and I saw a farmhouse across the highway and across a field. We walked to it
and asked if Scott could call his Dad about the broken car. About two hours
later, Scott’s Dad arrived. He had called a tow truck too. The tow truck towed
the car to a nearby garage where the mechanics began to search for a gas tank
to install. Scott’s awesome Dad paid for everything. The mechanic said that he
was shocked that the gas tank hadn’t exploded when the exhaust had smashed
through it.
After most of the
day at the garage, the car was repaired. We expected Scott’s Dad to tell us to
follow him home but he didn’t. He said that he was sorry that we had missed all
the fun at our tennis tournament and told us to go ahead and catch the final
few hours of the tournament. He wasn’t angry about the crash at all. He said
that he was just happy that neither of us had been hurt.
We were two very
lucky sixteen year olds. Scott had managed to control the car at highway speed
as we were hit by a huge piece of metal. The gas had not ignited when the
exhaust had slammed through the gas tank. And Scott’s Dad was just what both all
needed. He was kind and helpful and showed us how to be a good father.
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