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Friday, May 13, 2011

When My Heart Stopped

While pressing the refresh button on blogger last night to see if it was up and running, I called home and talked to my family.

This in turn got me thinking about my little sister, Ruth. Who, by the way, is my favorite. Now before you go telling me that I shouldn't have favorites, I will remind you of two things. They are neither my children {although at times I treat them as such}, nor are they my students, so there is no law about favoritism. Secondly Ruth is everyone's favorite, so it is a win-win situation in my family :)

Besides, don't tell me you don't have a "favorite" sibling--especially if you come from a big family. It's just natural that certain children, because of their personalities/temperament gravitate towards each other. Not that you love your other siblings any less--it's just a stronger closeness.

Anyhow.

Ruth was born about 3 weeks into my freshmen year of college. And because of the surgeries and recuperation she had to do her first year, my Mum was really protective of her. Therefore it wasn't until the summer after my sophomore year that my Mum finally relented to my begging to take Ruth to the store with me.

By now she was a rambunctious {and very smart} almost three year old and so I thought she would enjoy a trip into town. I got her all buckled up in her full sized booster seat and we set off. I popped in a CD and would glance back often exchanging smiles and winks. Ruth did not speak very clearly, so there was not much conversing.

I turned onto the busy country road and while accelerating to come up to speed, I happened to glance back at Ruth. Just in time to see her hand reach for the door handle and pull it open. It happened in a split second. My heart stopped within me as a visions of my sweet sister tumbling out of the car and being killed flashed through my brain. I immediately reached one hand behind me to hold the seat while breaking and pulling off to the side of the road.

I wanted to shower my sister with hugs and kisses, but I knew that I had to impress on her to never do something like that again. So, we had us a little "Tough Love" session before I squeezed her little body in relief. I was so incredibly grateful that God had kept her safe! And that she was buckled in!

It took a little bit before my heart went back to normal and we resumed our short trip to the store. This time I made all the doors were locked and I moved Ruth's booster seat to the middle. I wasn't taking any more chances!

1 comment:

Sharon Diedrich said...

Awww...she's so cute! That is an incredibly terrifying experience, though. I'm sure your heart starts racing just to think about it!

BTW, I know what you mean with "favorites." It really helps when they are everyone's favorite. ;-)