Ride that River

 

I was in West Chester, Pennsylvania with my son, Anthony and his then girlfriend, Sarah.  They have since gotten married and recently celebrated their tenth wedding anniversary.  We were at Sarah’s parents’ house celebrating her graduation from college.

There was so much excitement in the air!  It was a lawn party, and everything outside was decorated so beautifully.  Everything was put in place to accommodate one hundred guests. The party was a huge success except for one thing. Sarah broke her arm wearing high heels and trying to walk on the cobblestone driveway. She had a cast on from her hand to her elbow,

The next day, Anthony, Sarah and I came up with the idea of driving to the local river and taking a canoe ride. Sarah’s mother didn’t think it was a good choice of activities and she said, “Whatever you do, do not let your cast get wet!”

The river we chose to drive to was not too big and not too small. It seemed just right to enjoy a relaxing row through the river especially after that wild and crazy graduation party the day before. The riverbanks were surrounded by trees, and you could see the sun playing peek a boo through the branches, making it look like a golden display of sparklers.

“This looks like the perfect time to ride the river,” said Anthony.  “Yes, it is,” said Sarah, “as long as my cast doesn’t get wet.  “Agreed,” I said. That thought made me incredibly nervous.

The three of us decided that I would row in the front, Sarah in the middle and Anthony in the back. The rowboat was made of thick, heavy wood and it took the three of us using all of our strength to drag it into the water. We all jumped in with the grace of three bowling balls bumping, banging and pushing up against each other. Assuming our positions, all together we shouted, “We’re off!” with big smiles of excitement on our faces.

The ripples on the river were very easy to navigate at first. However, as we rowed further downstream, the ripples were becoming bigger and felt more like we were rowing through very strong currents.  “Steer your paddle to the right,” said Anthony.  Sarah added some tips by saying, “Bear forward, then quickly row to the right. We’re going to hit the embankment!”

As soon as the last syllable left her mouth, we most definitely hit the embankment hard. We didn’t expect what happened next.  The rowboat flipped over and threw the three of us into the river. We all went under but bounced back up because we were wearing life jackets.

So, there we were, chest high in the water, holding onto the rowboat.  We looked around at each other to make sure each of us was okay. I mainly remember Sarah holding onto the boat with one hand and with the other arm, the one with the cast on it, she shot up in the air like the Statue of Liberty. I was also certain Anthony was spitting small pebbles from under the river out of his mouth.

Somehow, we managed to turn the boat over and this time, Anthony sat in the front with the oars, Sarah took up the middle position and I was extremely relieved to sit in the back. Fortunately, the row back was uneventful.

On the drive back to Sarah’s parents’ house, we chatted nervously about how Sarah’s cast was wet. Her mother had warned us. All I could tell myself was that I hoped the confrontation with her mom would not be anything like the confrontation we had with that river!  Fortunately for the three of us, it wasn’t.

Ellen