Split Seconds...

The family and I went on vacation last week. I could have written a seperate blog about each of our adventures, but I'm going to reduce the happenings by the shortest timeframe possible - The split seconds. Why? Well, for no other reason than that I can...

In a split second - you can experience the wonder of your 2 year old getting a hole-in-one while playing mini-golf. The pride that can felt is only overcome by the sadness that you yourself have not gotten a hole in one and are most likely losing to not only the 2 year old, but the 6 year old, and the 31 year old spouse. A spouse who sometimes stuggles with letting things of this sort go. As you sit and ponder the universal meaning of it all, you come the conclusion that you will be hearing about this loss all summer long and possibly beyond..

In a split second - you realize that your lifetime fear of roller-coasters may have been unwarranted as they are not that scary as you get older. Especially when accompanied by a six year old who loves them. It's hard to be a pansy when sitting next to your son on a rollercoaster. You have to protect him and make assurances that everything will be ok, even when in your own mind you are pondering your own death. Cam likes to hold his arms up on all the big hills. So, being a good father I did the same for the first time in my life. It was fun. Never say you don't learn anything from your kids. Sometimes it's the littlest things they teach me that mean the most.

In a split second - you learn that water-skiing and tubing are mean to accomplish one thing. PAIN. I tried to water ski. It's been a few years and quite a few pounds since the last time, but I gave it a try anyway. Getting 230 pounds up on water-skiis is not easy. After 3 tries and my pride nicely bruised I switched to tubing. Tubing is not nearly as hard as skiing. You just sit and let the boat pull you along. But don't kid yourself, it's terror at forty miles per hour. Sitting in that position feels like getting a colonic and falling out of a moving car all at the same time. My ass has not hurt this bad since I thought it would be fun to cannon-ball from the 10 meter diving platform. The upside is that my wailing a screaming from the tube was great entertainment for my family. All part of the friendly service I provide.

In a split second - you can find out that fishing is a fickle sport. Sometimes the fish want your bait and sometimes they don't. Although I try and use all the right stuff, it's really up to the little slimy bastards whether or not they decide to play or not. I caught a couple of small bass but overall I was skunked most of the week. The biggest fish caught all week was by my wife with my son's Scooby-Doo rod and reel. She was using worms(I use lures) and caught a bass bigger than any I had caught all week. The fish was so big that Emily could not pull it out of the water with the kids pole. I congratulated her and felt good about her accomplishment. Sercretly I know the fish were conspiring against me out of spite. I'll get them the next time. I know where they live.

In a split second - a child can seize and stop breathing. We were all out having ice-cream and Cam and Gabe were playing on a picnic table about 5 feet away from us. Cam jumped from the table successfully, but Gabe, always trying to imitate his older brother tried the jump and fell. He caught his side on the way down and hit his head on the ground hard. Emily went to get him thinking he would cry and we would kiss the ouchie away and all would be well. Once she picked him up she realized that he was non-responsive. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he had stiffened and stopped breathing. She placed him on the ground to assess the situation and I yelled at the staff of the ice-cream shop to call 911. When I returned to Gabe he was responsive and crying loudly. The Paramedics came and strapped Gabe to a 'papoose' to stabilize his spine. Gabe did not like this thing at all and continued to cry. Lots of scary new people around and the additional stress of him being restrained. Emily rode with Gabe in the back of the ambulance and I rode in the front. The hospital was about 1o miles away and Emily was talking with Gabe the whole time and I talked to the driver about Gabe's vitals and all the things she checked him for. She assured me that he was fine and that crying babies are good sign. We got to the hospital and Gabe had an MRI and mutiple X-Rays. The official diagnosis is that he 'smacked his head hard' and that everything was fine. The doctor gave us the thumbs up and we went home. I should mention that my wife was amazing during all of this. She remained calm and was with Gabriel for every step of the way making sure he knew mommy was there. The famliy was also amazing. They took care of Cam while we were at the hospital and assured him that everything would be ok. Cam felt responsible for the fall and asked about Gabe until we got home late that evening. Needless to say this scared the shit out of everyone. Emily and Gabe returned to the ice-cream shop the next day to tell the good news of Gabe being ok and to thank everyone. Everyone who helped us that night was great. Even for a cynic like me, I found that the amount of care and concern complete strangers have the capacity to give is tremendous.

In a split second - you discover that getting home to cable, the internet, and Biff the wonder dog is as good as the vacation you just had. I found that all we really have is a series of seconds. Moments where you can be having the time of your life, hurting your ass unbelieveably, or thanking the universe that your Angel is ok...