Here I am enjoying a RARE quite Saturday morning thinking how desperately I need to update the blog with all that has been going on around here. I was reading through some blogs and my friend reminded what today was with one of her posts.
Do you remember where you were 20 years ago today at 5:04pm PST, October 17, 1989?
I do! And I don't think I will ever forget either. It was Game 3 of the Battle of the Bay World Series between the SF Giants and Oakland A's. My dad had gotten tickets to the series and was going to let my sister and I take turns going. Today was my turn.
My dad and I were on the huge escalator that takes you tot the third deck of Candlestick Park (yes Candlestick because that is what it will always be called in my book). We had just gotten to the top and stepped off the escalator when the rumbling started. At first it sounded like people in the stadium were pounding the feet in excitement for the game. But then the stadium started to roll. I had never seen anything like it, waves of concrete rippling through the ground. Then the panic set in. People started rushing down the large concrete ramps to get to the ground. Chunks of concrete were falling on the walkways and people were everywhere. I wanted to run with them. But no, my dad grabbed my hand and we headed under the breezeway out into the stadium. My dad was in the construction business, he knew how this worked, we needed to get somewhere where nothing was above us. We found our way to our seats through the chaos and just sat. All the players and their families were on the field and everyone was just in shock from what had just happened, but I don't think everyone really knew how bad it was yet.
My dad had said there was no point in leaving yet because the roads were going to be jammed, plus he wanted to make sure the game was going to be canceled before we left and also that we would get tickets to the make up game as well. I know typical man!!! So I sat there just looking around. My dad had on his headset radio listening to the news and I was peeking at the large hand held TV the guy a few seats down had....yes it was 1989.
I tapped my dad on the shoulder. "Dad, dad, dad. Part of the Bay Bridge collapsed, how are we going to get home?" He thought I was crazy said that was not going to happen, then he saw the TV. Soon he started to join me in watching the guys TV and we saw that part of the Bay Bridge had collapsed and saw the horror of what happened at the Cypress structure in Oakland. I think at this point he realized we should probably figure out how we were going to get home since all the bridges were closed so the one freeway that would take us around the bay to get back to Orinda was going to be packed.
Then there was my sister and mom. My sister was home alone waiting for my mom to get home from work. Not quite sure what she was doing but I am pretty sure she ended up at a friends house that night. See this was before cell phones so it was very hard to get in touch with everyone. My mom had just gotten on the 5:00 BART train at in the city to head home from work. They were in between the Powell Street station and Embarcadero Station when the quake hit. The train went dark and they had no clue what the city would look like when they got above ground. About an hour later they had to walk that tiny catwalk on the side of the tunnel to get back to the station. My mom walked for a bit then eventually got on a bus and headed to our friends house in the city.
The nice thing was my dad was on the same page. My dad and I drove to our friends house as well to wait it out. It was nice to see that my mom was there when we got there. Some time early that morning we drove home when they finally opened up one of the bridges.
The next few days were spent at home watching the news and seeing the damage. Big earthquakes are about the only thing that closed down schools ever int he Bay Area so this was quite the treat to have no school for a few days while they check all the buildings.
So I guess I will never forget exactly where I was at 5:04pm on October 17, 1989. That would be a hard day to forget.
***I still have my tickets from that game in a frame. I would have taken a picture of them, but I think they are still at my moms.
A rare moment of sibling love on top of tire mountain
Dani taking the leap from the tires
You have to just laugh at this girl sometimes
Smile Dani!
Dani was ready to catch Daddy
The kids loved the pillow jump
Chris doing his tricks!
.....always the joker!
Dani and I went on the train ride
Dani was so excited for the train ride
Feeding the goats
Dani found shelter in Daddy's jacket from the rain.
She loved her cookie!
Hanging out at the country store
Momma and her babies
Me and my girl
