I've Been to Hell and Survived

This story was sparked by Pam. I had e-mailed her and something came up about Miami. She gets credit/blame for sparking this story!

In March/April there was a big Karate tournament in Miami in which I somehow got roped into participating, but Sons 1 and 2 were the real reasons for the trek. (I don’t spar. I only compete in kata/forms if I compete at all.) I don’t like Miami. It is crowded and hot and there is nothing there that appeals to me, although my husband’s best friend lives down there, so it is a drive we do make occasionally.

This particular tournament was located at some Junior College I had never been to and I believe it was in Kendall. The drive was hellish. I don’t know the roads down there and the directions MapQuest provided were woefully inadequate at best. I found myself going from interstate to parkway to other interstate roads and I was completely freaking out. The traffic was dense, everyone was driving quickly, I stayed in the right lane because I had no clue where I was going and it was white knuckle driving. My stomach was a mess. I was cursing a lot under my breath when finally in a freaked out state I yell, ““That’s right folks! When you die, if you go to hell, you end up in Frickin’ Miami!!!” Sons 1 and 2 said nothing.

That Sunday night, at family dinner with my bro in law and his wife, I heard them say. "Hey, Uncle, did you know that if you die and go to hell that you end up in Miami?” I had many evil glares at me that night.

What. It could happen. I mean if you believe in the whole heaven and hell thing, hell has to be somewhere. It might as well be Miami. It’s sure as hell hot enough.