Saturday, August 20, 2011

It only takes a second...

Just the other day I had this strange feeling come over me.  I was driving down the road and couldn't help but think about how great life can be one second and then the next your whole world could change.  My family is happy, healthy and safe right now but it only takes a second for all that to change.  I often wonder how many near misses I have to tragedy that I will never know about.  That delay getting out the door in the mornings can be so frustrating but is it preventing me from something horrible happening?

I always take a lot of caution with Tegan around water.  He can't swim and until recently he had a fear of water.  He likes to play on the steps of a pool but unlike other kids, Tegan's depth perception isn't good around water due to his Nystagmus which makes the steps very dangerous b/c he thinks they are closer than they really are.

Tonight we went to a pool party for my niece's birthday.  The pool was well over Tegan's head but it had this little ledge just under the water that ran along the length of the pool.  Tegan had been walking from one end to the other on the ledge.  My husband and I both had our backs turned at one point and were a good distance away from the pool.  I had just turned around and saw Tegan and made the comment to my husband "do you know where your son is since both of us have our backs turned".  He laughs and says "yes he is right there".  But since he knows I am looking at Tegan, he makes that comment without even turning around to check on him.  It was that instance...literally the very next second...Tegan steps off the ledge and down he goes.  He sinks like a rock but starts kicking and fighting to get back up.  We both take off running to the pool.  We both are fully clothed with shoes and everything.  I get to the pool first but the more I reached for him the further he got from me.  Once he went in to the water he was never able to come up for air.  Within seconds this fully clothed Mama is in the water scooping her precious child up.  He is fine.  He is just as perfect in that second as he has always been.  He doesn't even gag or cough but starts to cry.  All I could do was hold him as tight to me as possible.

It all happened so fast.  Almost so fast that most people around the pool didn't even notice what was happening.  Those 30 or 40 seconds maybe weren't a big deal to some but they were to me.  Those seconds could have changed my life forever.  He couldn't scream for help and if I hadn't of turned around when I did no one may have noticed until it was to late.  The faithful person in me uses moments like these as a reminder of how precious life is.  I also use it as a reminder that God was right there, ever so slightly turning my cheek toward the pool so that the moment didn't end in tragedy. It terrified Rylee also as she was watching it in slow motion from the other end of the pool but couldn't swim fast enough to get to him.  She was so precious and so concerned about him.  She jumps out of the pool and comes to check on him. 

It only takes a second for your life to change and nothing will ever be the same!  Tonight I am praising God that my life is still the same and that my family remains happy, healthy and safe!!!  

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