Tuesday, May 20, 2014

May 18, 2014

We May Not Make it to Church,
We Are Stuck in the Elevator
Sunday, May 18, 2014

Sunday morning I was up about 7:00 which was pretty good considering I had been up until about 2:00 a.m.  About 8:30 I went downstairs at the hotel for breakfast.  Mom joined me shortly and the others began to drift in.  Few other guests from the hotel were there.  I needed to do a few more things in the room before we left for church and it was about that time.  Ron, Mom, and I were ready to leave for church.  Bob and Vickey were  going to leave shortly for New Mexico and David was heading back to San Antonio.

I got to the room and did the things I needed to and was waiting for the guys to come get the luggage.  It was time to go.  I kept waiting.  I began to get concerned since they said they would be up in "just a minute."  I had taken my Cochlear sound processor off for a couple of minutes (leaving me deaf) and after I had it back on I picked up my phone only to see that I had missed a call from Ron.  My immediate concern was my 91 year old mother.  Maybe something had happened and that is why they were not in the room yet.

I returned Ron's call and asked what he had called about.  He said they were stuck in the elevator.  What?????  He said they had already talked to the manager and that he was working on it.  I could hear Vickey's laughter in the background so I knew at least she was there, but not who else was in the elevator.  A couple of minutes later, David came to my door to say that the other four in our group were in the stuck elevator:   Ron, my mom, Bob and his wife Vickey.  I texted Stephen to tell him we would be late for church.  He texted back to say he was saving seats and that Kristina, Norman, and Omeda were there.  I think Norman and Omeda may normally go to a later service, but had gone to the early service to see us before we left town.


To my knowledge, none of the family members in the stuck elevator are claustrophobic, and I had heard Vickey's laughter, so that was all good.  David and I walked down the hall to the elevator door on our floor (the 3rd).  We could hear sounds and David said that it was stuck on the 3rd floor.  We could hear them, but it was harder for them to hear us.

Dave said there was another elevator and so we went to it and rode it to the 1st floor to check at the desk to see what was happening since there was no activity around the elevator door on the 3rd floor.  The lady at the front desk said that the Irving Fire Department was on the way.  We returned to the 3rd floor to relay that message. 

It wasn't too long before David said he could hear the sirens from the fire truck.  After he said that, I could hear it, too.  I was probably just barely hearing it and didn't know what it was until he mentioned it.  What I didn't hear, was them coming up the stairs.  David directed me to the other side of the elevator, knowing they were coming to the area where we had been standing.  So many things we need to hear!  
These three EMTs from the Irving Fire Department arrived to rescue our trapped family members.  
They had a special tool for releasing stuck elevator doors.  
It didn't work.  
They had another one.
It didn't work.
I guess Plan B worked, because before long they had the outer 
door open and set to work on the inner door.
Before long they had the door open a few inches.  One of the firemen went into the elevator and opened the door wider.
Mom was the first to come out the door.
Followed by Vickey...
Then Bob... and finally Ron.
We returned to the rooms, laughed and talked about the experience, and had a prayer time to thank God for keeping them safe. 

David and I had loaded the car while we waited, but then we decided it was too late to make it to church (they were stuck about 45 minutes) so we had to get some of the things out of the car so we could change into comfortable travel clothes.

After getting over the episode (nothing bad, just hyper!) we reloaded the car and Ron went to check out of the hotel.  The elevator repair men were already there and Ron shared what he knew about the situation with them.  It seems to have been an electrical problem and the elevator had stopped about 8 inches short of where it should have stopped. 

Everyone headed out in different directions.  We went to the church to meet Stephen in the parking garage and get some things from he that we were to bring home.
Stephen, Norman, Omeda, and Ron 
in the church parking garage.

We left Dallas and started our trip home.  It is 9-10 hours at least from Dallas to home.  The weather was great and traffic was medium - not too light, but not bumper to bumper.  Along the way we passed several accidents.  

It was about 10:00 by the time we got home and got the car unloaded.  Ron did all the driving.  That is so nice for me.  Mom and I both napped some.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend.  It was exhausting, but so good to be with family and to be celebrating.  My elbow rarely gives me problems.  In about a week and a half it will be one year since I broke it.  Of course then there was the second elbow surgery...

The hearing was frustrating much of the weekend.  I did well in some situations and not well in others.  I would have liked to hear the graduation address.  I would have enjoyed being able to visit with others more comfortably.  

It was a good trip!


1 comment:

  1. It was a REALLY good trip ! So happy I was included.

    ReplyDelete