How Small is Bangor, Maine? Well, I’ll Tell Ya…

On Saturday night, we took our weekly jaunt down to Gifford’s, the local ice cream stand. When we returned, I carried three cups of ice cream up to Zach’s room for the video game fanatics (Zach, Steve and Matt). As I was handing out the goods, I heard a CRASH outside. It brought back haunting memories of the day that Frank’s friend, Mitchell, was hit by a car in front of our home on Max’s first birthday.

I dumbly asked the boys, “Did you hear that?”

Never taking their eyes from the videogame, they even more dumbly replied, “Uh huh.”

I raced down the stairs to see if anyone needed help. I threw open the front door and noticed the dice hanging from Steve’s rearview mirror swinging. It was obviousl someone had just hit his car. About 50 feet ahead of his car, another car had pulled over. They had their brake lights on and hadn’t gotten out of the car, so I knew subconsciously they were going to flee the scene. But, instead of running toward the car, my dumb moment continued. As I hollered up the stairs to Steve, the car took off. Steve raced downstairs and out the front door as Matt frantically searched Zach’s desk for Steve’s keys. He found them and tossed them down the stairs to Richard, who then tossed them out the front door to Steve, who jumped in his car and took off.

Matt flew down the stairs and jumped in his car, too, heading the other way to try to cut the perp off. We called Steve’s mother to tell her what happened and then we waited, and waited, and waited for at least half an hour. We thought about calling the police, but since it had been dark and we didn’t have any description, there really wasn’t anything to tell the officers. And, we had to wait for Steve to return with the crashed car anyway.

Finally, Steve pulled up. He caught the guy! The man got stuck at a light and Steve found him there and followed him all the way home. When the guy got out of his car, Steve recognized him. Yes, Steve knows the hit and run driver who crashed his car!! It’s an elderly gentleman who claimed he didn’t know if he’d hit anyone or not (I find that impossible to believe). Steve chose not to call the police and will instead just file a claim with the man’s insurance company. The only damage was a lost driver’s side, rearview mirror.

We’re thankful it wasn’t something more serious, and it sure contributed a twist to what was an otherwise pretty uneventful weekend. And, it sure let us know how small our town really is!!

Hugs to all!
Angela