Steve and Maura

This story deserves a screenplay; it would make a great movie (I'll do it in my spare time and get Tim Goessling to pedal in LA).

. . . I almost forgot about Bob and Ted's adventure and they are the obvious sources to retell their tale.

I think I forgot that this series of automotive nightmares all happened on the same day; that is probably by design.

I believe it was either Thanksgiving or Christmas which explains why there were so many Goessling brothers gathered in the same place at one time. My vote is Thanksgiving 1982? It certainly was not a wedding or a funeral. I think the girl arriving by plane was Paul's girlfriend at the time; Ann (?) [I remember this because Elisabeth was hoping it was a serious thing. She kept hoping Paul would get married so Bob would not be so freaked out about being married and expecting a child - okay weird recollection that has nothing to do with cars:)] I could be wrong about the date.

My recollection was that Steve and I were traveling south from Maine with Jeff Troast. I am not sure why Jeff Troast was with us but he was along for the ride. This was in the days before kids and the weather channel. We had a tendency to not pay much attention to the weather until we were in the car and our trip was well underway. I remember it being cold and rainy when we hit the New Hampshire border and by the time we were on Rout 128 in Mass the radio announced the chance of sleet, hail, and snow mixed with rain. The traffic was heavy everywhere. The weather was turning nastier and nastier by the mile.

As we sped through the gauntlet of traffic through New Haven, CT the fatigue green Saab 95 wagon we were riding in began to lurch. The lights would dim and brighten, the car's acceleration ability would wax and wane until finally in the driving sleet and rain it quit in four lanes of heavy, speeding holiday traffic. We flipped on the hazard lights and rolled to a stop under an overpass. Steve and Jeff bounded out of the car, lifted up the hood and while Jeff held the flashlight Steve inspected the engine. The rain/sleet mix was horizontal now and driving into the overpass and drenching Steve and Jeff. I saw Steve grab something from under the hood and the two of them ran for the cover of the car.

Sitting in Steve's hand was the distributor cap and a set of broken points. We did not have a spare set in the car with us; why would we? It is not like they broke on a regular basis. We sat in silence (a rare event when Jeff Troast was around) thinking of our next move and trying to ignore the sound of the sleet hitting the windows of the car. Steve handed the points to Jeff and as he dried the distributor cap off Jeff inspected the points. Then Jeff, looking into the rear view mirror, eyed my earrings and asked me if they where solid gold. Next thing I knew I was down one pair of gold earrings and Steve and Jeff were outside standing in a huge puddle. Steve, with his jacket over his and Jeff’s head held the flashlight and huddled next to Jeff while Jeff hooked up some wires to the battery to create an arch so he could fuse the gold of my earrings to the broken part of the points. The repair got us over the Tappan Zee Bridge before it failed. We called the house in Mendham. Ted and Bob had already had one near death experience that day and figured they were in the clear for anymore mishaps so they braved the elements came to the rescue with a new set of points. We eventually made it to the house on Lowery Lane.

** When your mom drove off the road outside Morristown I believe it was Dave Haslam, Chris Cole, Brian Nelson, and maybe someone else like Keith Markinson. I believe they were riding back from some job; perhaps a Bionic Erectors gig. They stopped to help Mick, Jeanne and MF. Didn't MF have a wisdom her wisdom teeth removed that day? It was Brian Nelson who sat in the car and did not (for a reasons never explained) help. Your mom invited everyone back to the house for dinner after those guys helped them. Everyone at the table glared at the oblivious Brian Nelson who ate more than his fair share of his undeserving thank you dinner.

That's what is left in my memory!

Maura