I was in 8th grade in the spring of 1979. My family lived in Camp Hill. I was sitting in class talking to my friend as her mother worked at TMI. She shared that her mom said all was okay but she herself looked scared. I didn’t really understand what was going on and it seemed that no one else did either.

I swam for a local swim club and we were headed to Annapolis for the weekend for an invitational. So while we didn’t technically “evacuate” – we were away over that weekend. Just a few hours down the road provided a bleak picture of what was happening in Harrisburg. The reports all seemed to indicate that a meltdown was eminent.

All I know is us kids thought we may never see each other again.

All I know is us kids thought we may never see each other again. What we could piece together from newspapers and our parents was – a meltdown would create a huge hole across all of central Pennsylvania and that we would never be able to return to the area. This created a sense of fear…fear of the unknown. Fear that everything we ever knew would be forever taken away.

That Saturday night, the parents put all the kids into one of the hotel rooms and ordered several pizzas. They all gathered into an adjoining room. I recall sticking my head in there to see what was going on…I saw a lot of panicked faces, moms hugging other moms, dads with stern looks on their faces as they talked…and lots of beer and liquor being consumed!

For the first time in my life, I realized my parents did not have all the answers.

I closed the door and turned around and everyone was looking at me. For the first time in my life, I realized my parents did not have all the answers. As I look back now, I realize how young our parents were…mid-to-late 30’s.

While we were scared and unsure, we were also much kinder to each other. We hugged more. We cheered each other on more ferociously than usual. As the swim meet came to a close, tearful goodbyes were shared. A sense of gloom set in and perhaps my first sense of loss wafted over me as we made the silent journey back home.

There was no school that week nor the next (Easter/spring break). Our family chose not to evacuate but our car was packed and ready to head down to my great aunt’s home in Clearwater, Florida if an official evacuation order was issued. There were many belongings of mine I wanted to pack but my dad said no. However, I would sneak something here & there and hide it somewhere in the car. As days turned into weeks and months, my father would find one of my hidden treasures in the car and bring it back inside. I recall several swimming trophies and stuffed toys were among my most valued items.

We ate donuts, catching up and wondering who else was still in town.

While parents tried to act like all was okay, us kids wandered around town with no mention of a curfew. I remember meeting up with a friend at the Dunkin Donuts in Camp Hill. We ate donuts, catching up and wondering who else was still in town. One night we went to see the newly released movie, The China Syndrome. The packed theater shared a collective gasp when Jane Fonda, playing a reporter, says “a meltdown could render an area the size of Pennsylvania permanently uninhabitable.”

Soon the urgency of the situation dissipated some and life returned to normal. I do recall going to swim camp in update New York that summer. When people learned where I was from they would ask if I evacuated and if I glowed in the dark. I thought that was people being silly until one night I awoke to find a younger camper looking at me in my bunk. I asked him what he was doing and he said he wanted to see if I glowed in the dark.

he wanted to see if I glowed in the dark.

When I was in my early 20’s, I had an enlarged thyroid. While it was not cancerous, I did have to have half of it removed for evaluation. My mother was convinced it was because of TMI…she knew of many people having thyroid issues. She also felt TMI was responsible for stunting my growth. When I was younger, doctors told her I’d easily be as tall as my dad who was 6’2. I stopped growing that year at 5’6. Who knows…

As I look back so many decades later, I am fond of the closeness I remember feeling with my teammates. It may be when I truly learned the value of my friendships. All other memories of weekend swim meets blur together and only that one still stands out. And while it’s when I discovered there were indeed bad things my parents couldn’t protect me from, I still felt safe, secure and loved.

Kelly

Kelly with her parents