Part 7 The TRAGIC TALE: The Dramatic Conclusion

I guess it's time to try to end this story... the story that Marylin and family had read in the newspaper... a story I didn't want anyone to hear on that first day of fifth grade.  It is a story that still brings with it - an emotional response of the little boy left behind at Salton Sea. Healed? Yes... absolutely, but whenever we suffer like this (as with physical wounds) scar tissue remains.

It is possible that those scars not only serve to remind us of the things that are important... family, forgiveness, love, care, protection...but those scars can also remind us how God can use ugly things to beautifully shape us.  I am reminded of that by a response I received to The TRAGIC STORY part 5...

This is from a person very near and dear to me... one of those to whom my amazing mother had opened our hearts and our home.  If there is a picture that can be sadder than that dirty little boy left behind by his family at Salton Sea... it is the picture of baby twins abandoned on the beach in Marina Del Rey.

THIS IS WHAT SHE WRITES:  "I wish I was there to love that little boy. There is something amazing here Mark. Much of what you have so eloquently put into words mimic some of my own experiences. We have something in common as a result - God used the hurts and built in us a compassion that could only come from Him. We both have chosen to tap into this professionally and personally - you as a pastor, me as a nurse. My kids will always know how much I love them - as I know yours do too. We both are drawn to those who are hurting - to love them. I believe your hurts fueled the unconditional love you showed to me and David when we became part of your family. We now have an unbreakable, God given bond forever. His plan at work..."

Perhaps it was this searing sense of loneliness that burned in me a driving desire for connection to God. Who knows, as Lisa above has just reminded me, maybe it is this funny, tragic and ugly story that has beautifully shaped me for ministry that desires nothing more than to let people knew they are loved by a passionate God who relentlessly pursues them.

The Conclusion:

The officer stepped towards the station wagon with only the faint, red-glow of the neon signs from the aging Pink Pump dive that was several hundred yards away.  With jaw set and a telling red glow, the officer approached as the apprehensive crew silently held their collective breath. Mrs. D hid in the tiny toilet stall and the other kids in the trailer had been cleverly buried in camping gear. Mr. D's hand was perched and ready to strike.The tribe had taken the oath and nobody was about to give away the fact that bodies were stashed illegally in the trailer.

In an effort to control his temper, the Highway Patrol officer began the conversation in low tones. "Evening, Mr. Dahlin" he said.

"What's seems to be the problem, officer?"  Asked Mr. D apprehensively.  This had already upset the officer of the law - Abandoning young children is the problem he thought... What kind of parents would do such a thing...dropping them off one by one at the most desolate locations on the planet?

Not giving his cards away, he calmly replied. "Uh, Mr. Dahlin, is this your family traveling with you?"

"Why, yes it is your honor...officer!"

The officer looked into the window and tried to count the number quickly... He counted 11.  But was informed that the number was between 15 and 17...  Mr. Dahlin was obviously lying.

"Mr. Dahlin, um...it would be safe to say that all of your children are all here, correct?" The trap was set!

Mr. D gripped the back of the seat, showing the tense white knuckles, to let the boys know what was at stake... (the threat of "THE HAND")."Um...boys is everyone here?" he turned and hollered rhetorically over his shoulder.

"Yes, dad... we're all here" came a tentative reply from the back seat.
"Why, yes officer, we're all here!" Dad said nervously.

The officer's blood boiled and his heart was still racing from the pumping adrenaline of his high-speed pursuit.  "Mr. Dahlin"  He said, raising his voice, exposing the anger he has been suppressing. Syllable by sharp syllable, the officer continued louder, "Mr. Dahlin, are all of your kids in the car with you?"

"Is everybody back there?" Dad asked, squeezing the seat so hard, with his threatening fingers, that he almost poked holes in the upholstery .

The boys did a fake head count - making sure to count some of the sticky bodies twice... "Yes Dad, we're all here..."

Even before dad could repeat the answer, the officer yelled, "MR. DAHLIN, DO. YOU. HAVE. A. SON. NAMED. MARK?"

Flustered, Dad turned and ask the mob in the backseat, "Do I have a son named Mark?" This was not the right thing to do at that moment.

Now, sure that this was a conspiracy being covered up by the entire clan, the officer grabbed his billy-club and asked Mr D. to step out of the car. As dad slowly grabbed the door handle...Karl in back yelled up front "Uh, dad...I think we might have left Mark back at Salton Sea."

"YOU! THINK!" Screamed the officer, spraying spit on everyone one in the front of the car... not once, but twice, "YOU THINK!" He yelled, showering everyone and everything within a ten foot radius.

I have to break before continuing with a bit of commentary. Obviously, those in front thought I was in the back and those in back thought that I was up front  - strategically placed by Wolf Pack for THE HAND!

Okay, this makes sense (I mean, after all, the mother and step-father of Jesus did the same thing leaving Him behind so I guess this is a natural mistake that can happen to the best of us. Just ask my daughter about the hockey rink incident of 2001).

Anyway, this wasn't rocket science! Think about it...
               1) An officer pulls you over and he knows you by name.
               2) He asks if your entire family is in the car with you.
               3) He asks you to take a head count to see if anyone is missing.
               4) He asks if you have a son named Mark.
               5) He asks if your son Mark is in the car.

Okay, so you thought he was secretly hiding away in the trailer with Mrs D and the overflow, but come on, by number 2, any normal person probably should have had a clue!  (The operative word in that last sentence was "normal" but then again any normal person doesn't take 62 people to Salton sea - illegally hiding half in that abominable thing we called a trailer.)

Normal or Not...the next thing my dad said was not the thing you say to an irate officer of the law.  Mind you, my dad was both frugal and practical. In his mind he figured:

         1) Why would a intelligent highway patrol officer go through all this trouble of chasing him down and  not bring the kid!
         2) Had he brought the kid - this whole mess would have been over and done with.
         3) What was easier, more practical and economical?
         4) Now Mr. D would have to spend all of this time unhooking the trailer, leaving it in Indio, making a    recon run all the back to Salton Sea and then back again.
      5) Think of the time...think of the money...(in his mind he was thinking "What's wrong with this police officer?")

Computing and thinking and weighing in on all the consequences is the reason my dad blurted out the way he did...  Dad said, "You mean, he's back at Salton Sea?"

Nostrils flared.. sucking in a gallon of air before responding... "Yes he is Mr. Dahlin!" said the officer with pursed lips and tight neck... doing all he could to hold himself back from choking the ring leader of this child abandonment campaign.

MR. D, "DO YOU MEAN I HAVE TO GO BACK AND GET HIM?" This made perfect sense to everyone in the car, but only served to infuriated the officer to the degree that it took great restraint not to pull out his billy club and clobber my father...
Hitting the dirt with his billy-club, the officer called for backup so they might restrain him from wielding his wooden baton  instrument on the top of a certain man's head.

Back at the diner, I had no idea what became of the the highway patrol's efforts to catch my family. I had to wait and see if I was to be an indentured servant, end up in an orphanage, or if my dad and the Wolf Pack would return for me.

In my pathetic Zombie-like state I stared at my little cheeseburger...my blessing - manna from heaven and gulped...and tried, but still could not swallow even a sesame seed. (insert cheeseburger song here). 

It was late - nearly the middle of the night and I had been holding on to my Popsicle stick as though it represented holding onto my family... hoping against hope!

Then the door at the far end of diner burst open with dad and a small reconnaissance crew. People in the restaurant cheered. My dad and the four older brothers took one look at me and ran in my direction.

This is the point in the story where everything goes into slow motion... (If I had a background track for this part of the story, it would be the Chariots of Fire music where all of those guys are running on the beach in slow motion)...

Hum if you know what I'm talking about...  "du, du, du, du, du, du....du, du, du, du, du"
Pushing dad aside, the brothers ran towards me with outstretched arms... I was loved and I was missed. (more of the sound track)... they wanted me! I had not been erased. Slow motion they ran...it was all about me! I was loved!

I smiled and set my Popsicle stick on the table... my chest stopped heaving and my throat cleared enough for me to take a bite of that beautiful cheeseburger. I had earned it, and now it was time.

With their arms outreached and happy faces, they ran to me as I stood up on the seat of that blue vinyl seat and opened my arms to receive their smothering hugs.

In slow motion, the boys raced each other and dived on the table fighting for my cheeseburger.

They wolfed it down along with the fries and watery malt...  (I found a fry that had fallen onto the seat and ate it)... and my angel had disappeared.

One of the men in the restaurant said, "If it was me, and I was their father, I would have left all of them here to die a slow death"

There is no place like home! I made it back to Venice and we lived happily ever after?!?

Until a week later, when I joined the cunning Wolf Pack in a game of hide-N-seek!