Four hours on the road, crammed into an old Chevrolet with two antsy boys, a fussy two-year-old girl and one very pregnant cat named Midnight\u2013I could use a break to stretch my legs. We all could. But try telling that to my husband, Ernie, behind the wheel.<\/p>\n
\u201cMidnight\u2019s acting funny,\u201d my son, Ken, yawned from the backseat. His brother, Jerry, stroked Midnight\u2019s fur, trying to calm her down.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s probably getting ready to have her kittens,\u201d I said, glancing meaningfully at Ernie.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo stops,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re almost there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Whenever we took to the road, Ernie was a man on a mission. Must\u2019ve been a quirk left over from his army days. He was determined to keep us on schedule; no stops unless it was an absolute emergency. Bathroom and snack breaks didn\u2019t count. <\/p>\n
There was only an hour left before we reached my in-laws in Georgia. It felt like we\u2019d been driving forever. The kids began to doze off, and though it was only 9 p.m., I closed my eyes too.<\/p>\n
A sudden right turn jolted me awake. Huh?<\/em> It wasn\u2019t our exit, but we were leaving the highway. Was Ernie really pulling over? What was the emergency?<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hungry,\u201d he said, parking the car in front of a Hardee\u2019s. \u201cLet\u2019s get some burgers.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d I sputtered. \u201cBut you… you never stop!\u201d If he\u2019d said he wanted tap dance lessons I\u2019d have been less surprised.<\/p>\n He unbuckled his seatbelt. \u201cCan\u2019t explain it,\u201d he said. \u201cI got a craving.\u201d<\/p>\n We filed out of the car, a little dazed. The boys ran to the bathroom, while the rest of us approached the counter. I was placing our order when I heard the squeak-squeak<\/em> of Ken\u2019s sneakers against the restaurant\u2019s linoleum floor. He stumbled towards us\u2026 and collapsed in Ernie\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n \u201cKen? Ken?\u201d He didn\u2019t respond. \u201cCall 911!\u201d I screamed.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s another one here, against the wall!\u201d a man shouted. Jerry had passed out too!<\/p>\n An ambulance arrived and rushed us to the hospital. The doctor started all three kids on oxygen. \u201cCarbon monoxide poisoning,\u201d he explained. \u201cYour exhaust must have backed up. If you hadn\u2019t stopped, you wouldn\u2019t have made it another hour.\u201d<\/p>\n Ernie never ate that burger, but his sudden craving was gone. We drove to my in-laws the next morning with our windows rolled down, thankful to be alive.<\/p>\n Oh, and Midnight? Three days later she gave birth to five healthy kittens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Four hours on the road, crammed into an old Chevrolet with two antsy boys, a fussy two-year-old girl and one very pregnant cat named Midnight\u2013I could use a break to stretch my legs. We all could. But try telling that to my husband, Ernie, behind the wheel. \u201cMidnight\u2019s acting funny,\u201d my son, Ken, yawned from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":26475,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[2059],"class_list":["post-15554","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gods-grace"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n