Fun and Sadness at Toledo Bend

In 1970 we went to Toledo Bend Lake at Spring Break-time, Easter. Alice Sells had serious surgery that spring, and we took Guy, their youngest on the camping trip with us.
Uncle Henry came in his pickup truck with a camper on the back. Aunt Margaret was there and she and Henry slept in the camper. His boat was there and so was ours. Carolyn and Rennie camped in their tent. And I guess, we set up two tents for Carolyn and Jim and Steve.
After dark Bill Kuykendall, Betsy, and their three children came with their camping gear. The next day Jim’s Carolyn fished and said she caught more fish than ever before in her whole life.
Sunday was Easter, and we hid eggs for all the kids. Special ones for Steve and lots of them. I was so very proud of my first grandchild !
As Sunday progressed, each family packed and left. John and our children had more time off Monday and Tuesday, so we planned to slowly pack up on Monday and return to Fort Worth on Tuesday.
We had brought our two station wagons pulling the boat and lots of gear to share. We had just snuggled down in our sleeping bags Sunday night when we began to notice some flashing lights and someone calling us outside the tent. Scary !
It was the Sheriff, and Rennie had called him. We were to call Rennie! That's all the Sheriff knew. Call Rennie.
Well, there we were with three sleeping children in the tent, and the nearest phone was about ten miles into town. Nothing to do but to bundle the children up in their sleeping bags in the back of the station wagon and take them along.
On the way to town, we thought of all the people that we loved who had been on the highway that day. Steve, Carolyn and Jim. Bill and Betsy and theirs. Henry and Margaret. Carolyn and Rennie.
But Rennie told us that it was Daddy Bent who had died.
They were preparing to leave as soon as they could. I think maybe they picked up Jim and Carolyn on the way. Steve must have stayed with his Grandmother, I don't remember.
We returned to Camp and waited until daylight to begin packing up. Something was wrong with one of the cars. Don't know which one, but I thought we would never, never get home.
All day we struggled with that car. Stopping off and on. Finally we got home. Packed up again to go to San Angelo for the funeral. What a nightmare!
But we had a wonderful vacation together, and felt that it was good that everyone had gotten home safely.