My 13th Birthday

Every year, my family would take a two week (sometimes more) vacation. My Dad would arrange to rent a cabin in the Pocono's or a house at the Jersey beach. This year, he had decided on the Pocono's.

The timing of this year was such that my 13th birthday happened while we were on vacation. Dad was in business for himself and so he'd come up on the weekends but go back to work during the week.

There was something not right with this cabin. Mom knew it right away but I couldn't see anything wrong with it. All I remember now is that it was an A frame house and I believe we boys all slept in the loft. I thought it was fun.

Mom's car was a station wagon. Dad liked it because it had "a lot of pep". But he did admit that the steering had a little too much play.

On my birthday, Dad left early to go back to work. It was a 3 hour drive so he had to leave early that morning. During the day, I was playing with my present. My parents gave me my own tools - hammer, nails, players, a tool belt, etc. There was nothing to fix so I would hammer nails into trees. Meanwhile, my older brother, Jay, was learning to drive and had spent the better part of an hour going up and down the short driveway in the car.

The night of my 13th birthday, we begged my Mom to take us deer hunting. This was a favorite activity up there. We'd take flashlights and try to see the deer's eyes in the meadows. Sometimes they'd be close enough to see their whole body with the flashlight.

We didn't see any deer so Mom decided to treat us to ice cream. On the way back to the house, there was this sweeping curve to the right. Mom took the corner a little too tight and there was a lip between the road surface and the shoulder. The wheel got caught and to get back on the road, she swung the wheel too far and we ended up on the other side of the road. She overcorrected again and we were stuck on the shoulder again. This time when she swung the wheel, we went off the road on the other side.

The roadway was elevated so we careened down a short hill into an open field. For some reason Mom was anxious to get back on the road so she didn't slow down but steered to the right to try to get back on the road.

I was in the front seat (the birthday boy) and I had finished my ice cream. I heard screaming and my older brother yelling "hit the brake". But Mom didn't seem to hear anything. The grasses were up to the top of the hood of the car. I could hardly see where we were going. I can still remember seeing the reflection of the headlamps on the grass as we ran over it.

I remember thinking that it was like a dream but I was outside the dream watching it. I could hear the screaming. I think I screamed myself. Eventually, I thought that I should hide so I crawled down under the dash.

Next thing I know we lurch to a stop. I thought Mom had finally hit the break but actually we had hit a tree. I climb back out from under the dash. The engine is laboring to run. I hear my older brother tell my Mom to turn off the engine. He has to say it twice. Then it is quiet - except for my sister who is weeping.

My brother Chuck is out the back (he was in the very back of the station wagon) and telling us all that he sees a house. My older brother, Jay, had a gash on his eyebrow from an ashtray that flew when we hit the tree. My Mom tells him to go and see if there is anyone home. She tells me to take my sister to the house.

I help Audrey out of the car. She has ice cream all down her front. She is still weeping. She says, "this isn't really happening is it? This is just a dream, right?" I didn't know how to comfort her so I said "yes, it's just a dream, you'll wake up and it will all be OK".

By the time I get her to the house there are some adults there so I hand her to them and head back to the car to see if my Mom is OK. I get back in the passenger seat and my Mom is perfectly calm, lucid and clear headed. She asks me how I'm doing. I say fine. I tell her she has some pretty nasty gashes and begin to describe them to her. "You have one large one over your eye where it looks like your head hit the top of the steering wheel. You have a cut across your nose where it hit the horn" She tells me she's OK but she can't move her foot. It is stuck so she'll have to wait for the ambulance to help get her out of the car. We sit in silence for a moment.

We hear people coming to the car. She hands me her purse and tells me to guard it and make sure no one takes it. I promised I would. She tells me to go to the house and see how my sister is doing.

When I get inside the house, my brothers and sister are in the living room. I take the purse and sit down. My sister spews big time. She is shaking violently. I don't understand what's wrong with her. The people say that she is in shock and cover her in blankets. She has fainted. That also happens when you are in shock.

Jay calls home but Dad isn't there. He tries the work number but Dad isn't there either. So, somehow, he figures out how to call the next door neighbors. They answer and he tells them we were in a serious accident and to have my Dad call if they can locate him.

A short while later the phone rings and it's Dad. Jay describes what happened and Dad says he'll be there as soon as possible. It's a 3 hour drive from our house to here.

Sometime later, a lady is on the phone excitedly telling the story of a woman who is trapped in the car, bleeding. Jay yells "Could you stop talking about that? It's bother my sister." The lady continues in muted tones.

At some point, Chuck came back from the bathroom. I decide I have to go so after getting directions from him, I head upstairs. The bathroom has a window that faces the car. Trying to peer through the window, I can see the ambulance light and some other lights but the trees are too thick and I can't see what's going on.

Suddenly, I feel my knees begin to buckle. I make my way to the toilet and sit down. I realize that I'm in shock. I'm shivering and I want to puke. I manage to pee and hold down the puke. Finally, I'm OK enough to stumble my way downstairs. I don't want to faint up here and be forgotten!

Eventually, they tell us that Mom is in the ambulance and that we will follow her to the hospital. I think we see her for a moment and she's fine. She tells us it's OK and to get in the police car and follow her to the hospital. I found out later that they took 45 minutes to disconnect her from the car.

The trip to the hospital must have been a long one. I remember it taking a long time. I don't think my eyes left the ambulance in front of us.

At the hospital, they take me into a room to look at my side. I have a few scrapes from crawling under the dash. They doctor me up and wind a bunch of gauze around me. Clearly this is overkill but I kind of like it. Jay is going to get stiches over his eye, so this makes me proud that I got hurt too.

Suddenly, Dad is there. What a joy! He had made the 3 hour trip in 90 minutes. It is very comforting to have Dad here as this whole time we've been around total strangers. Dad knows what to do. We begin to tell him of our theories about how this happened. He tells us to say nothing to anyone.

I don't know how long we were at the hospital. Eventually, Dad drove us back to the cabin. I probably fell asleep in the car.

In the days afterward, Mom was in the hospital for some time. Her foot had actually gone through the floorboard and the sharp metal had severed her tendons. It would be several operations and 2 years before she would walk normally.

I was scared of cars after that. It took me months to get over the fear. I would walk through the back yards of people to avoid walking along a busy street. When I was forced to walk on the street I would be intensely watching ever car to make sure it didn't run off the road.

This event has become part of the Barbieri history. Despite the passing of almost 35 years, if I say "the accident" to any of my siblings, they will immediately know what I mean.