We had just come from visiting my father’s cousin at the Sacred Heart hospital for the elderly in Castlebar. Five of us piled in the car, eager to get to Mary’s to watch the All Ireland match, the equivalent of the Super Bowl. The streets were quiet as all of Mayo was in living rooms and pubs watching the match between Mayo and Dublin. I put the car in reverse. It didn’t move.
The driving experience in Ireland always feels a bit off to me – with everything on the wrong side. Still, it struck me as odd that we were not moving at all. I gave it some gas.
The car moved, but there was a strange noise. Then a man appeared at a window right where we are parked and stared right at us. I knew something was wrong.
My uncle Kevin and I jumped out of the car. There on the pavement was the front of the car. Light bulbs dangled from where the grill had been. I could not believe my eyes. Kevin and I both immediately started laughing.
Roddy and Dylan got out of the car and immediately joined the laughter. “What happened?” We had no idea.
Kevin went to examine. A few minutes later he reported that we had pulled up over the curb. When everyone got in, the car had sunk a bit and the front bumper had gotten lodged over the curb. When I put the car in reverse and hit the gas, it pulled the bumper right off.
Even so, my dad and Kevin were eager to get to the game.
“Let’s leave it,” Kevin said. “It’s ruined anyway.”
“Let’s tie it to the top of the car,” I suggested. I was not sure what would happen if we returned our rental car with half of it missing.
My dad went inside the hospital to see if he could find some rope. Kevin examined the Mayo flags hanging outside and pondered stealing them.
After a long while, my dad was still not back. “He probably climbed in a bed and is pretending to be a patient so he can watch the game,” Kevin speculated. We went to look for him to no avail.
Finally, he returned with two doctors in tow. “They don’t have rope,” he said. “But they have bandages.”
Bandages? For a car? "Are you kidding?" we asked.
He was not.
We opened the hood and the doctors got to work. They returned the grill to its proper place and then took out the bandages. “Scalpel,” one said to the other as they tied up the grill.
When the “surgery” was complete, one doctor turned to my dad. “Make sure you go fast. The wind will help it stay on.” He handed my dad some extra bandages, just in case.
Then he added, “I’ll see you back in the clinic in two weeks.”
