The Evil Seattle Winds

Right now it is pouring down rain on little East Lansing, Michigan. But, it reminds me of a day when my sister Sheila put her life on the line and since my sister Katie requested that I write a new blog, I decided to share this story with you.
When I was in elementary school my parents took us on a summer trip to Alaska. We flew to Seattle and then from there took a few day ferry trip to Alaska. Little did we know young Sheila would be asked to risk her 11 year old body for this ferry trip. The ferry had small cabins that could be rented out and of course my parents took it upon themselves to rent one for the two of them. This room would later be referred to as the "Love Shack" but that is a whole other story. The four Mech children were out on the open deck, Katie and Patrick in their own separate personal tents (because two 8th graders wouldn't be caught dead sharing a tent!) and Sheila and Jane in our family's humongous 6 person tent.
During the first night, I fell fast asleep on the cool metal floor, but soon enough was awoken by Sheila's whimpers and wails with the loud wind in the background. I opened my eyes to see that Sheila had spread herself as far as her body could reach across our family's tent.
"Jane, I think our tent is going to fly off the ferry!"
The walls of our tent were flapping and Sheila's hysterical ways were freaking me out.
"What should we do?"
We contemplated what plan of action would have the least chance of one or both of us dieing: Should we go into Katie and Patrick's tents?
No, because then our tent would definitely blow away and Dad would kill us.
The winds blew louder and louder and now I was starting to believe maybe tonight would be these two sisters' final night together.
Should Sheila go wake up Dad to get his body weight to hold down the tent?
No, because we weren't sure if my 4th grade body was enough against these evil Seattle winds.
There was only one choice...
"Jane, I am bigger. You go get Dad. Tell him we are going to blow away and we need his body weight."
As I took General Sheila's orders and unzipped the tent, I wasn't sure if I would ever see her again or if she and our 6 person tent would be one with the Pacific Ocean.
I woke up my Dad in a frenzy and I am sure for a moment he questioned why he decided to take his children on a trip to Alaska. Luckily, when we returned and looked into the tent Sheila's sprawled out body was still cemented to the floor. Dad's weight was enough to keep us anchored during the night.
This story has no moral, self examination or soul searching undertone. I just want to thank Sheila for weighing two more extra pounds than me, which would designate me to be the one who went to go get Dad. Because who knows, if she would have left me in tent, this could have been a whole other story and this blog may have never been written...