April 1989
I was a 12 year old girl spending the evening with my friend on a Saturday April 1, 1989 when the news broke. The Space Needle had fallen. The televison channel we were watching was interrupted by a Special News Report. I saw it all, the footage of those in the area who had witnessed it, they were interviewed and spoke with tears, fear and panic. I saw the left over remains of the Space Needle and my heart sank to my toes and I was sick. How could this be? Had the Needle really fallen? I loved that place, it signified home and good memories with my family.
I instantly called my Grandma and Grandpa Davis (I was living with them at the time) and told them what I had just seen. I expressed my devastation and I'm sure I cried. Grandpa assured me that it was impossible, it would have taken an earthquake, a big one, to take that thing down and we would have felt it. It was just a joke he said he was sure of it. I argued that NO I saw the people crying and the needle collapsed, I saw the pictures of it, they showed the collapsed Needle. I tried all night to accept my Grandpa's words but to no avail.
The next morning before church I crawled into Grandpa's truck as he drove me to the water's edge of Port Orchard, WA. I looked out across the Puget Sound to see the ever standing Space Needle and cried with joy!
As an April Fool's joke a local television station aired a phony report that the Space Needle had fallen over. Emergency phone lines were swamped with calls. The Space Needle received more than 700 calls, even though there was a flashing alert during the entire report telling the audience that it was a joke (well they flashed the date). One Spokane man even jumped in his car and began driving to Seattle because his daughter worked at the Space Needle. If I remember correctly the television station had to publicly apologise for their actions and clogging of emergency lines.
April 2008
To this day there is no holds bar on the jokes at our house (for me anyway)... I figure I was dooped good and I survived so every one else will too. But today I broke all the rules, to my defense I really didn't expect it to get past the first sentence. Jeremy knows it's April 1st and he knows he married a jokster! So when I called him telling him there was a cop at our door and Tresa was on her way to the hospital he should have known instantly...It's April 1st...Rochelle is way too calm... something is up... But NO! He panics wants to know what hospital and if she's okay! "Well no she's not okay she's on her way to the hospital, you go to work and I'll call you" I say. "I'm not going to work WHAT HOSPITAL?" "Jeremy go to work it's April Fools Day!"
"$%^*)@%" click the phone went dead...
I call Jeremy back and he informs me he can't speak to me he's too upset. He calls me fifteen minutes later to let me know I have crossed the line and ruined April Fools Day forever! And when a cop shows up at your door and a child is hurt it's normally something REALLY bad. OOPS! Maybe I should have thought this one through, but this joke was never supposed to get past the first sentence. Anyway, I laughed at him and felt bad for him and then laughed some more because . As we all know that is the diabolical side of me.
Please be gentle with me as you all leave your comments.
I continued my spree of silly jokes (alright, alright one not so funny). I pulled a family meeting and the third item on the agenda was that our family was would soon be one more. Tyler's jaw dropped, the others sat in hmm for awhile and then said no way it's April Fools! I of course giggled relentlessly!
