Hello Fam. I’ve been away for a while. Have I been away because I’m a procrastinator? Or have I been away because I have several hobbies and interests, and it’s impossible to give them all the attention and dedication they deserve? Yes. But also, last year, 2024, has been an inexplicable year filled with highs and lows and milestones and downfalls. You’d think such an impactful year would give me a lot to write about. In my case, I think I was overwhelmed, and just going through the motions of life, not prioritizing my passion hobbies.
Let’s cut to the chase. What went on last year? And what brings me here now after my 3 year hiatus (my last post being in April of 2022)? I just think that it’s finally time to reflect on what I’ve been through, and meditate on where I’m going. Writing down my journey is an effective and cathartic means of self reflection.
There are two significant events which took place in April of 2024. These events really should (and will) be written in separate posts, but they happened so close to each other that it is inevitable that the stories will run together.
April 8th, 2024. You know what I’m talking about. THE ECLIPSE!!! Have you ever seen a total solar eclipse?! The moments leading up to when the moon completely covers the sun, immediately followed by the eclipse’s totality are so eerie and surreal and electrifying! Having traveled to Nashville Tennessee on August 21st, 2017 to witness a total solar eclipse for the first time, I knew that I could not pass up this opportunity in 2024 to see it again. I am a space enthusiast, after all, and total eclipses don’t come around terribly often.
My preparation for the 2024 eclipse began months in advance, even as far back as the middle of 2023. Where would I see it? What would I bring? Is this another solo trip, or will I bring someone with me? What outfit would I wear? I planned every detail to the letter.
Obviously, I’d want to watch the eclipse in its entirety, from the beginning of the partial eclipse, to the main event of totality, to the end of the eclipse when the moon moves completely out of the sun’s path. So it’s a picnic in a field. I’ll need a large blanket. The large party blanket which I bought from Sand Cloud was more than perfect and purchased specifically for this event. Blanket, check. But which field would I be viewing from? Where would I go to witness this event?
Memphis Tennessee, my hometown, would not experience totality, so staying here was out of the question. I could go to my mother’s house in Jonesboro Arkansas. That probably would have been the easiest and most straight forward option. But, I am a space nerd, you see. Jonesboro Arkansas only would have had 2 minutes of totality during the eclipse. Seeing as eclipses are so uncommon, I wanted to maximize my time under the unearthly glow of the sun’s corona.
I viewed a chart from nasa.gov which showed the start and end times of partiality and totality for the April 8th eclipse in several major US cities. The chart made it clear that while most locations would see about 2 minutes of totality, Dallas Texas would get a whopping 4 minutes totally under the moon’s shadow. Maybe everything really is bigger in Texas…
Dallas was the closest city to Memphis that would receive this amount of time under the total eclipse. So my destination was set.
I ordered all of the necessary paraphernalia. Eclipse glasses? Check. Not only did I order a box of 5 ISO Compliant paper eclipse glasses, I also bought 2 high quality hard plastic framed ISO Compliant eclipse glasses. Can never be too prepared.
I bought a road map, which tracked the path of the eclipse across all the cities and towns it would pass through. This atlas showed the centerline of the eclipse. The closer you are to the centerline of the eclipse, the more time you get to enjoy in totality, even if the time is extended by just a few seconds.
I picked out my perfect, comfy and casual eclipse outfit. I booked time off work for that faithful Monday. My boyfriend, Lester, agreed to go with me so we could experience the eclipse in Dallas together.
Flights, hotel, and rental car booked! If I had the time, it would have been fun to drive down to Dallas on Sunday, April 7th, then drive back up to Memphis on Tuesday, April 9th. But seeing as I work in a corporate environment, and I had already taken a chunk of vacation time for the holiday season prior, as well as to go to Hawaii with my family in the summer, I only had two days of vacation left before June of 2024, and I wanted to leave one day open just in case any emergency came up before the end of the fiscal year.
So the plan was for Lester and I to fly down to Dallas on Sunday, rent a car at the airport, and check into the hotel. The next day, Eclipse Day, we’d check out of the hotel, get snacks, and drive to BlueBonnet Park in Ennis Texas, a town 45 minutes outside of Dallas which was smack dab on the eclipse’s centerline. We’d have a picnic in the park as we watched the eclipse from 11 AM to around 3 PM, with the 4 minutes of totality being somewhere in the middle. Then we’d pack up and drive back to the Dallas airport to catch our evening flight back to Memphis. Everything was lined up to the T and I was so excited for this eclipse trip!
Saturday, April 6th, 2024. I never thought this date would be so ingrained in my mind, especially when compared to the oncoming eclipse on Monday, April 8th. It was Sabbath, and I attended my Seventh-day Adventist church as usual. Prior to arriving at church, I stopped by Rhodes College to pick up Faith, a college student from Kenya, who had been coming to church with me for the past few months. Sometimes a friend of hers would attend as well, but she did not join us on this particular day.
At church, I was giddy and happy, telling my friends and other church members how excited I was to get on the plane the next day to view the Eclipse in Dallas Texas. We had communion at church, where we would wash each other’s feet, just as Jesus had washed his disciple’s feet at the last passover, teaching us humility and servitude. Then we’d drink wine (Welch’s grape juice) and eat bread (unleavened wheat biscuits) to symbolize Jesus’s blood which was spilled, and body which was beaten at his crucifixion for the salvation of our sins. We’d have praise and worship and testimonies, and reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.
After church, Faith and I got in my car to drive to a church family’s house for a meal, which we had done countless times before. Not even five minutes from leaving the church, we found ourselves tossed across the road inside a mangled car. We were T-boned. My SUV flipped onto its side. It is the worst car accident I have ever been in to date.