DAVENPORT, IA—Pausing momentarily upon glimpsing the oversized photo of smiling children skipping through a meadow with their parents, estranged dad Ed Carroll, 47, told reporters Friday that a billboard with a happy family had almost inspired him to call his kids. “Boy, seeing the gleam in those kids’ eyes nearly got me thinking that I should give my own son and daughter a call for the first time in a decade and see if they’d ever let me back into their lives,” said Carroll, adding that the billboard had flooded his mind with sentimental images of how much his son Dustin had grown and whether his daughter Heather was still pursuing gymnastics until the light turned green, Creedence Clearwater Revival’s “Born On The Bayou” came on the radio, and all sense of remorse or curiosity disappeared from his mind. “After that, all the stuff about wanting to hear their sweet voices and tearfully explain how much I missed them kind of vanished. But for awhile there, yeah, I seriously started to consider apologizing for turning onto the freeway all those years ago, just flooring it and driving as far away from my responsibilities as I could.” At press time, a billboard for Michelob Ultra had instead inspired Carroll to go to a local Hooters and to try and pick up one of the waitresses.
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