Life is precious

When I was four years old, we were traveling down a four-lane highway in our 1936 Ford. This car had doors for the front and back that both opened from the middle. I was playing with the door handle when the door opened, and I was thrown out of the car onto my head. Cars following swerved in all directions to miss me as I hit on my head in the road. The next thing I knew was that I was back in the car, blood everywhere, and wondering why mom was crying. "I am the one hurt. Why are you crying?" I asked. A trip to the emergency room was next and lots of my screaming as they cleaned the blacktop out of my scalp. I am sure I had a concussion as I was under watch for several days and not allowed to play with the other kids.

In my late twenties I helped sponsor a trip of high school kids to Monzanillo, Mexico. This took several days, and we stayed at a great resort in Monzanillo. The best part was swimming in the Pacific Ocean until I was caught in a rip tide and unable to get back to shore. One of the kids swam out to see if I was in trouble, and I admitted that I was and that I could not make it back to shore. He quickly swam back to shore and got a plastic air mattress and swam back to get me and told me to hang on as he towed me into shore. When I got there I fell on the beach and took some time before I could move. My arms and legs felt like there had lead weights on them.

In 1996 I felt the onset of a heart attack and got several assistant principals to walk with me on campus. The next day I stayed home, and the feeling came back. Not wanting to go to the hospital dirty, I took a shower and then called 911. The biggest problem I had was getting to and unlocking the front gate so the emergency personnel could get into our house. Through the whole heart attack I was calm.

Why do I relate these incidents? I think that the recent death of Herb has again put into focus how fragile life is, and how quickly it can be over for any of us. The amazing thing to me is how calm I have been in these situations. I guess you can excuse the screaming when I was four. In times of stress, we all react differently. Life is precious and to be enjoyed.