Ending The Year With A Bang (Quite Literally...)

So, Kona and I spent a quiet Christmas -- on the couch, watching movies, eating left-over pizza.  One of the movies we watched was Ghost -- and I cried but it was good cry and, all in all, I got through the day.  New Years Day was more difficult.  I woke up on Jan. 1st, tears in my eyes, the beginning of a new year without Bob....  Some days, I swear, it seems impossible to go on.

Between the holidays, I did have a visitor from out of town, and we did a little sight seeing and one of those days, we were coming home and when I turned into our alley, we heard a horrendous BANG!!!

I stopped the van and thought -- what the hell did I hit??  But looking back, both Julie (my friend) and I could see nothing.

Now our alley, like our street, is made of historic brick. And therefore, is a somewhat bumpy road.  And, as always, I'm driving very slow, less than 5 miles an hour. I pulled into our parking space behind the house and got out to look and was absolutely shocked at what I saw:  the rear passenger door of our van was crumpled.

Oh-kay, now this is freaky, because I didn't think I hit a thing. And on inspection of the alley, found a brick lying loose in the road.

And the only thing we could surmise was that my front tire had somehow triggered this brick to pop up, catch on the undercarriage of the van and somehow wedge itself against the vehicle and practically tear up the door....  The brick was from an area of the alley where a tree root had buckled up the bricks.

This is our alley, the loose brick came from the bumpy area on the right hand side.

The damage....

I was in tears.  I mean, I don't need this right now. And we could barely close the van door.  I called Bubba who told me something this "freakish" could "only happen" to me, or him.  ha!  He told me to call the city and report the damage and the road problem, because it was their responsibility and they should pay for the damage to the van.  Which I did.

I then called my insurance company, who told me it was my responsibility (not the city's) because I "failed to overlook" meaning I did not see and therefore avoid this obstacle. So therefore my insurance should pay and my rates will probably go up.  jeepers...

So I take the van into the body shop next week.

Meanwhile, Chris is still in the hospital. They have not transferred her to a rehab facility because she fell off the commode and injured her neck.

What a way to start the new year....

The evil brick....