I can only describe last evening in a series of one-word phrases.
Bizarre.
Horrific.
Surreal.
Devastating.
Tragic.
I first heard the news of the I-35W bridge collapsing into the Mississippi River at 6:20 pm, approximately 15 minutes after it actually happened. I was tuning in to Channel 4 news to catch Mark Rosen’s sports cast (the only watchable/listenable aspect of WCCO news) when live coverage of the tragedy was being aired. Not wanting to listen to the inevitable demagoguery that would ensue from DFL Don Shelby, I switched over to KSTP channel 5 news.
Within ten minutes of soaking in the horrific scene of 35W, we got a call from my mother-in law. Her frantic tone had us very worried in the wake of my father-in law having cosmetic surgery done on his nose. This was a couple of weeks after several skin cancer cells were removed from that area. I felt the need to explain the reasoning behind such a procedure since this 77-year old man would not be so vain as to have a face lift.
But I digress.
Anyhow, he was bleeding profusely to the point where he was becoming light-headed. We took the one hour jaunt to western Wisconsin in an attempt to both calm my panicking mother-in law and drive my father-in law to the Woodbury hospital where his surgeon would meet him.
In the end, the medical staff at Woodwinds hospital was able to get my father-in law cleaned up and sedated so he could rest comfortably overnight.
To summarize, I spent about 3 ½ hours in the waiting area of an emergency room watching on TV one of the largest calamities in Minnesota history while occasionally checking in on my father-in law, who’s face looked like it had been run through a meat grinder.
August 1, 2007 will be a day I won’t soon forget.
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