Someone saved some guys life last night

I was hanging out with Baby Girl last night. It was just us - we'd arrived home from her dance class - and were enjoying some quality time together. La Reine was out shopping for a homecoming dress with CK's date, SK was at Rugby practice, and CK and Q weren't home from football practice.

Basically just really nice. We were chatting about how dance had gone - "fabulous", and if she needed any help getting homework started and the like. She had opted to sit on my lap, which doesn't happen all that often anymore - heaven.

Then reality set in as CK and Q arrived home.

And then...

A phone call. It was a friend from a few blocks away calling to make sure that SK was alright. Apparently she'd seen him standing on the side of the road near an accident - overturned car - and wanted to be sure that everything had turned out okay since she'd been unable to stop.

She may not have been able to stop, but my heart did for a brief second as I wondered myself if he was alright since I'd had no phone call.

We chatted for just a minute and as CK and Q figured out what we were talking about they chimed in with more information.

Apparently SK had driven past the accident on his way to Rugby practice and had pulled over to see if he could help. He's a certified first responder and is required to do so. The young man who'd been driving the car was a friend of his and he checked out okay despite some minor lacerations on his face and a nasty bump. S determined that 911 had already been called, and that's when he realized there was a passenger who was out of the car on the other side but who was not responding.

The details are a little fuzzy at this point, but essentially S determined he wasn't breathing and started CPR which he continued for 10 minutes until the paramedics arrived. Then, after turning things over to them, he double checked with his buddy to be sure he was getting taken care of, and then continued on to rugby practice with no further fanfare.

CK and Q had heard about it because S had called his mentor Donny who is the trainer at the school and had thanked him for helping him get the skills that he's used to save that young man's life. Donny had shared the information with several of the players as they were leaving practice.

When SK got home, he was beat. I asked him how he was, if he'd been scared, had he struggled with remembering what to do. He replied - "I'm tired from doing CPR and then from practice. I was scared, but not really until I was well into it - it's one of those things where adrenalin kicks in and you just act. I'm really glad I was there and that I had some knowledge which helped." He also talked about how he wondered why it had taken so long for the paramedics to arrive since they came from the fire station that was literally less than a mile down the street - and how he'd thought about that a lot while doing the CPR.

And that was about it - he showered and headed to bed.

I've got to say that I'm impressed and pleased with all of my children. I'm continually amazed by the things they do, and even more by the incredible people they have and are becoming.

I really couldn't ask for more.

respectfully,

-jake

Once there was a way to get back home

It's been nearly a year since I last posted.

I'm not certain why I stopped, but it felt right to have a hiatus for a time. I don't believe that anyone was really reading this ramble anymore anyway, and certainly no one has complained or even remarked on the fact that I've not been posting, so that confirms that no one has really missed it.

There have been days when I've missed it, but there have been many days when I haven't. I've been feeling lately like it's time again so we'll see how that goes.

drop me a line or comment if you're still around.

respectfully,

- jake