Elderly Parents’ Day Out … that had their daughter on edge – I

By Amitabh Sharma

“These two went on a trip despite my telling them not to,” said Sue*, her voice had a tinge of anger and concern at the same time. “They didn’t say anything and decided to go anyway.”

Well, it wasn’t her kids that Sue was concerned and upset about … it was her elderly parents. “We are at that stage in our lives where we are parenting our parents,” she said emphatically.

Why is it a problem for a set of elderly parents to go on an outing with their friends? Let’s get some context to this.

July began on a high note for India in the Caribbean (West Indies as most of us know of this region) – Men in Blue were crowned the T20 World Champions in Barbados (this is the island where Sir Garfield Sobers, and of course Rihanna come from) … there were festivities galore, the Indian tricolour sort of took over the island … it was about this time that Hurricane Beryl was being formed.

The coming days were nothing less than an apocalypse – Beryl pummelled across the region, the over 150 kilometre/ hour winds uprooting trees, power lines, cell towers, blowing off roofs, and leaving a trail of destruction.

Jamaica dodged the bullet with the eye of the storm passing south of the island, but it did bring heavy gusts of winds, rain, flooding – resulting in power cuts, disruption of communication. Anxiety was on a different level as people couldn’t reach their loved ones.

As this story is being penned, there are still communities without power, and such was the case with Sue’s parents, who live in a different parish (akin a state in India), a couple of hours drive away, though not far, but given the circumstances it was a good idea to stay at home.

Sue’s parents had a trip planned with their friends (in their late 60s and early 70s, both of them were the youngest of the lot). The spirit of adventure circumvented logic, so the group of friends decided to take that day trip anyway.

This group of young at heart, some with walking sticks, others with walkers, hobbled on to the bus, and off they went.

And here the adventure unfolds …

The bus was meandering through a mountainous terrain, and somewhere along the way they hit a roadblock – trees had fallen on the road and there was no way traffic could pass. It was a narrow road, they could neither turn back nor go any further – excitement of being outdoors turned into panic. The picnickers’ thoughts were on an apocalyptic overdrive … and if the end is nigh.

The driver reportedly had to play the role of a school headmaster trying to bring order to the morning assembly congregation, by sternly warning everyone to keep quiet and let him think. With no way to manoeuvre the bus, he decided to reverse slowly till they reached an entrance to a building where he could turn into and drive back downhill – all this happening as the group huddled and prayed for their safe return.

“Hallelujah,” were the cries in unison, as the bus descended the hill and came to the city … the view was panoramic – an expanse of the turquoise blue waters and the crisp Caribbean sunshine. The group was relaxed and regained their mojo.

We hope the young at heart learnt some lessons and headed back home … or did they?

Let’s find out next week. (Part II to be published on August 28)

*Not her real name

Click here to Read Part II of the adventure

(The column Postcard from Jamaica appears every Wednesday)

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