Before we get going on this post, we want to thank Rick for his absolutely wonderful “Who would you do?” post. WOW, babe. It’s awesome. Thanks for all your hard work. It’s honestly one of our favorite posts ever on URD! xoxo Ben and David

FROM BEN:
Hey, guys… it’s Ben. I wasn’t going to mention this “incident” that took place last week… but, since Rick brought it up, I guess we’ll tell you about it. As you know, Dub had asked me about learning to speak French and I went on-line and gathered up some resources and we got started on it. The kids were all learning a little French, but I don’t speak it – and it was kind of “the blind leading the blind.” I mentioned that to “Dr. C” and he said “I have an idea. Give me a little time to work on it.”
A few days passed and I’d kind of forgotten about asking for help – then last Monday I got a call from him saying he knew just the right person to help us out. He said it was a lady who serves on the Church board with him and is originally from France. She taught French history at USC for about 20 years before retiring to take care of her husband who had cancer. He passed about a year ago. “Dr. C” said he’d talked to her and she was interested in teaching the kids to speak French. We’d do it by “Zoom” sessions one hour each school day. Her name is Jeanette Durand – and Dr. C chuckled and said “I call her ‘Madame Jeanette’.”
Then – I don’t know what happened. When he said “Madame Jeanette” my vision started blurring and then everything went black. I found myself in a flashback, in Columbia, MO, standing next to my cousin Donnie (Pop-pop’s son and Dub’s bio father) in our high school choir singing in the State choir competition. It was the finals and we were singing “Madame Jeanette.” I guess I was “out” for about 30 minutes before I finally sort of woke up and returned to life at Table Rock. It was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me.
FROM DAVID:
Last Monday afternoon, I was in the cabin working on a contract when Dub called me. He said You’ve got to come here NOW. Something’s happened to Dad. Please hurry.” I made it to “the school” at Ty and Damien’s cabin in about 4 or 5 minutes. When I got there, Ben was sitting at the table he uses as a desk. He’d dropped his phone on the floor and was just staring off in the distance. He seemed to be in a stupor or something. He was breathing normally but was unresponsive. I snapped my fingers in front of his eyes and talked to him – but got no reaction. I started to call 911 – but thought better of it and called Jim, who said “Stay right there. I’ll handle it.” He called back a couple of minutes later and said “The paramedics are one the way. They’ll be here shortly. I told them no fucking lights or sirens.” The ambulance got here about 30 minutes later – and, by then, Ben had regained consciousness and was talking to us. Alex had come and gotten the kids and taken them to their homes… except for Dub who said “No way I’m leaving my dad.” The medics were gowned up wearing masks and gloves and checked all of Ben’s vital signs. His body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen level and respiratory rate were all normal. The lead medic said “Normally, we’d take him straight to Springfield for a brain scan… but with this Covid thing going on, we’ll let you guys make the call.” Ben assured us he was fine and the medics wrapped up and left.
FROM BEN:
Well… that was a seriously fucked up deal. I still don’t know what happened but I’m feeling fine now and we’re back to school every day. Jeanette is doing “Zoom sessions” with the kids daily and they’re loving it. She’s a lovely lady and has them singing “Frere Jacques” in both English and French.
I doubt I’ll have any more of these weird flashbacks, but have promised David I’ll go for a brain scan if I ever have another.
If you’re not familiar with the song “Madame Jeanette” you really should hear it. We won second in the State choir competition. I can still feel Donnie standing next to me while we sang.
xoxo Ben and David