"What did you expect?" her husband, Carl Kramer replied with a huge grin on his face. He was driving the rented Blazer that the family picked up at Port Columbus. They had already been on the road for two hours and they were just getting near their destination, Sugar Creek.

Laura did not answer though; she was filled with too much emotion. She just kept staring out the window, looking at the snow-covered foothills that hid the hollows of her old hometown in southern Ohio.

"Are we almost there?" Adam asked impatiently. He had already sat for 13 hours flying in a plane and it was apparent that he was getting restless. ACDC had already played for the millionth time on his portable CD player and it seemed like every radio station played country music. He then looked over at his eighteen-year-old brother, Jason. The brown haired boy was too busy looking out the window himself to even notice anything that was going on in the SUV.

"We still have a little bit to go," Laura said, recognizing every road as if she was twenty again. "I can not wait for you to meet your relatives, especially your grandmother. You boys have not seen your grandmother since you were ten and nine."

"But why did we have to come now when it is cold?" Adam complained. He was not really elated when he heard the news that they were going to take a much-needed "vacation" to Ohio. The trip was a total surprise for his mother, who had not seen her family for eight years. Even though a part of him wanted to see his relatives, Adam still wanted to spend the holidays at home in the small oceanside town of Emerald Beach, California.

"Adam, this is the best time to visit. All of the family gathers at your grandma's house and you will get to know all of your aunts, uncles and cousins. Not to mention, your grandma is not getting any younger," His mother said. It was obvious that she had missed her mother and wished to see her before the inevitable happened. "Everyone is excited about seeing you boys so please return the favor." Adam nodded as his mother flashed him an approving smile. He wondered if his aunts looked like his mother, with her long brown hair.

"I can't wait to see my sisters," Laura exclaimed. Her husband looked over at her. It felt good to see her happy. Laura had not smiled like that since before the accident that left their youngest son with brain injuries. It was like time had went backwards and erased the events of the past few months. Usually, the Kramers spent the holidays with Carl's family. But this year, he knew that his family needed to get away. So they promised Grandma Kramer and the rest of the family to see them when they got back and set out for Sugar Creek.

Adam was just about to close his eyes out of boredom when he heard his mother gasp. He immediately sat up to see what the commotion was over, but the only thing he saw when they topped the hill of the four-lane highway was a bridge.

"The Silver Bridge!" She exclaimed with excitement. "Oh, look Carl! They made a new bridge in Point Pleasant. It was so old when I was young."

"Mom, it is just a bridge," Adam smirked, flopping back in the seat. His mother saw huge bridges in San Diego so he could not understand why she would be so excited over a bridge not even one fourth the size of the bay bridges.

Laura turned around to face her son. "Adam, that bridge is a famous bridge because of the Silver bridge Disaster on December 15, 1967. It was rush hour and the bridge collapsed out from under the cars on it. There are still bodies that are buried underneath that bridge in the rubble."

Adam was silent. He looked over at the bridge and the water of the murky Ohio River. He shuttered at the thought of falling several feet to the cold waters of the river.

"Why did it collapse?" Jason asked. He shared his mother's love of history. She was an archeologist and a professor of history at the University of California at San Diego.

"It was a simple "I" beam piece that was only a foot long, believe it or not. Every family on both sides of the river was effected by that disaster. Cousin Gerald was on the bridge. He went to get some Christmas presents from the toy store in Point, but he never made it," Laura answered as Carl turned the Blazer onto the two-lane road that would lead to Sugar Creek Road. Jason looked back at the bridge as it disappeared from site.

"You can still see the entrance ramps to the old bridge if you walk down by the flood walls. You will have to go and check it out. I am just glad that the blue bridge was replaced," Carl added.

"But one thing I do not understand. Why did you call it the famous disaster? I mean, I have never heard of it in any of my history books," Adam asked. He could not understand why an event in the middle of the hills would be considered "famous". "It is not like the Titanic disaster where over a thousand people from all over the world died."

"I know that this is a small area, but that bridge brought about many changes that effect all bridges in the United States. It was the Titanic of all bridges so to say," Laura quipped back at her son. Adam still had a quizzical look on his face. Jason saw the same face and had to chuckle. Adam did not share their love of history or even academics. He would rather concentrate on the more entertaining things in life like cars, surfing, sports and his girlfriend, Alyssa Clarke. Capable of being an honor student like his older brother, the younger Kramer boy chose to let his attention stray to other goals in life. However, one thing both boys had in common was their love of their father's profession, an investigator for the state of California. They had solved a few cases of their own and seemed to be following their father's footsteps to their mother's dismay. But even though the brothers were very different, they made a great team together.

"After the bridge collapsed, stricter laws were passed concerning bridge inspections. Just like with the Titanic, after it sank stricter laws concerning lifeboats were passed so it would not happen again. Forty-six people died on that cold day and it could have been prevented if the bridge would have been inspected like it is today," Laura instructed her youngest son. She turned around to see where they were now and her face lit up. It was weird to see Laura Kramer wiggling like a first grader in the front passenger seat. Carl reached over and patted her on the leg. He smiled warmly at his wife. It was worth it to him to see the glow in her eyes again. Adam had to admit it was nice to see his mother so happy. He felt a twinge of guilt for the grief that he had been giving his parents over the trip.

"We used to sit on that river bank for hours and just watch the barges go by. I can still hear the lap of the waves hitting the shore from boats passing by. Then at night, you could hear the coal trains in West Virginia winding their way to Eureka," She said as they drove past the Ohio River on the left.

"Eureka?" Adam said with an ornery laugh.

"Yes, Eureka. Coal was like gold around here in the olden days. Eureka is where they would load the barges to send the coal down to the Mississippi River," Laura replied, gazing at the river. She had forgotten just how peaceful it looked when the sun was setting in the West. It sent out a red glow that bounced off of the still water, even in the cold of December.

It was not long before Carl routed the family onto Sugar Creek Road. Adam could barely remember their last trip down the same road. It twisted and turned along the ridges and hollows without the security of guardrails. It reminded him of home except there was no sand in the soil. Pine trees and dormant trees aligned the road with the occasional open field that looked over the valleys of southern Ohio. It was a pretty sight. Jason was thinking the same thing. It was going to be great meeting their relatives.

They soon topped a ridge on the one lane gravel road. In front of them on the left side of the road was a familiar two-story white house. It was in the middle of a field that was surrounded by huge White Pines and Hemlocks.

"Home is such a beautiful sight," Laura said with tears in her eyes. It was the house that she grew up in. They house that she would always call home, even though she has her own two-story house in California. Then she spotted the other two houses in the distance. One was a brick home that her sister's family lived in and the other house was smaller log cabin that her older sister lived in with her family.

"There is Katherine's house," she said pointing to the brick home. Then she pointed to the log cabin. " And that is Shelby's house."

"It is nice that they live near each other," Carl added. He had always felt bad about moving his wife to California, but it was the only place that they both could find a job at the time. He had no doubt that if they would have stayed in Ohio, that they would also be living in a house nearby on the family's 152 acre land. In this area, it was normal that families lived near each other to share in the childcare and regular living chores. He wished that Adam and Jason could have experienced that.

His thoughts were interrupted by the shriek of joy from his wife at the sight of her oldest sister, Shelby. The woman, who looked just like Laura from a distance, was standing on the porch waving wildly as the Blazer made its way up the winding driveway. By the time the Kramers had reached the top of the hill, Laura was undoing her seatbelt and hopping out of the SUV to go and see her sisters. The three women, all with long brown hair, were hugging and crying as they greeted each other. Carl went and shook hands with his brother-in-laws and watched as the "women folk" exchanged hugs and kisses over and over. Adam and Jason were both trying to stay clear of the medley. But it was too late.