Flashback Friday: 1996 Indy 500!

May 1996
The spouse went back to work, but informed me he'd changed his mind on filing for divorce:)  Our relationship was still rocky, however.

My upstairs neighbor, WS was preparing for her June wedding, and invited me to her bridal shower.  I took her some fancy bath soaps and a small bottle of body glitter.  I enjoyed meeting her other friends, and got slightly tipsy on margaritas.  So much, I drunk-dialed T and spoke to him!After opening her presents, W announced, "So apparently my friends don't think I shower often enough..."  Since I didn't trust myself to drive, I stuck around for the 'Pin The Dick On The Hunk' game.  I didn't win, lol!

The 500 that year was somber.  Scotty Brayton, after clinching the pole position, died in a crash on one of the practice days, and rookie Tony Stewart became the pole sitter.

This was also the year the Indy Racing Lights (IRL) was formed, and CART decided to boycott the 500 and put on their own race up in Michigan.  I was secretly pleased Team Penske wouldn't be dominating the race anymore (sorry Al Unser Jr!), and began rooting for Team Menard, Tony Stewart.

We privately called Eliseo Salazar 'Salad Bar', and I think this was the year he played 'bumper cars' with the field (Wikipedia says not everything was his fault, so this was my own in-person perception!), causing a tremendous wreck at the end, when he slid under Allessandro Zampedri's car, causing Zampedri severe injuries to his feet.

Danny Ongais (affectionately known as 'On-the-gas', lol!) went on to drive Brayton's car, starting in the 33rd position.  At the 500 parade, a car covered in black represented Brayton's death, and the crowd grew quiet as it passed.  My stepdaughter was in the parade that year, so we went down and filmed some of it, standing on both sides of Monument Circle to catch a glimpse of J.

After the race, I don't remember if I walked home, or if Dad drove me as close as he could.  One year, he wasn't allowed near 10th and Beachway, and I ended up going all the way to Lafayette for an hour's rest before bringing me home, lol!

T and I were also having a dispute over my decision to stay married, and the fact that earlier in the month, I'd driven BJG to Evansville for her dad's retirement party, and since T hadn't been available for a quick chat, I'd stopped in to see my ex-AF officer.  T's response..."After what he did back in January, you STILL went to see him?  Incredible."  I realized then and there how valuable I treasured T's friendship, and tried to tell him the meeting with S had been uneventful; it showed I was definitely 'over' him, but it still pissed him off.  Which was a shame; since my family was gone until Monday, T and I had planned to watch the recap of the race together and talk for several hours.  But since he was pissed at me, I watched it alone, drank wine, and enjoyed my 'alone' time.

I'll post the 2006 race next week, since my 1976 post will be short.

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Present Day:
It's my Tween's final day of school! He has a final assessment in History, then he'll be an official 6th grader:)  I also have  to finish the paperwork to enroll him in Clark Middle School.

Today, I'm headed up to Nashville with my colleague Floyd Root.  We're going to spend the night at his brother's house (Floyd doesn't want to be on the road waaaay early on Sat), then attending the Edinburgh Author's Fair at the Outlet Mall from 10-5pm.  My dad is driving down to get me at 5, then I'll spend the evening with the parents making sandwiches and watching the parade.  My daughter and her boyfriend Mike will arrive around 9pm, then we'll head to the 500 and meet up with my Uncle Bill and cousin Will, who are flying in from Naples, Fla.  I don't think S has ever met W, and she was only 9 the last time she saw UB.  She and Mike will head home after the race, but I'm going to spend a relaxing week with my parents, to unwind from the school year and hopefully get my muse back!

Tonight's Karaoke Line Up:
Kind and Generous-Natalie Merchant  Not too bad!
You Should Hear How She Talks About You-Melissa Manchester  Think it sounded okay....
You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth-Meatloaf  Voice cracked on fourth line, so scrapped it...
I Got The Boy-Jana Kramer  Did well:)

Have a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!