So proud of my girl....

Yesterday was a lazy day.  Don't you love days like that?  Dave had gone golfing really early, Sydnee was working and my younger two are sleepers so the house was quiet for most of the morning.  I enjoyed just surfing the Net and reading the paper. (My mouth has been a little more uncomfortable the last couple days.) I was really hoping to be off the Ibuprofen by now but am still taking it three times a day.  My Dr. had said that it might be more painful a few days out as the swelling goes down and the stitches start to pull.  I guess he was right.  I cleaned the house a little and then about 2pm I got back on the computer to check out Facebook and a couple blogs.  I had a message on my FB page from an old friend.  It said

  " I just watched your amazing daughter perform CPR on a drowning victim at Ft. Desoto Park.  She was amazing, you should be incredibly proud."

 What?  Oh my gosh, tears sprang to my eyes.  Tears for the victim hoping she was okay.  Tears of pride for my girl, the lifeguard who is trained to rescue people and assist them in any way she can.  Tears of fear and worry that if the unthinkable happened and the victim didn't survive how would my girl handle that emotionally?  I was desperate to talk to her, to get the details verbatim.  I knew that was impossible, she for obvious reasons does not have her cell phone with her on tower.  I was going to have to wait till she was done for the day.  I called my best friend, she only half joking said she would be driving out to the park to check on Sydnee.  The thought crossed my mind.  But I knew that would just embarrass her. I have to remind myself all the time that she is an adult now and I must have boundaries.  (That is so tough for me.  lol)


Four long hours later she called.  She knew I knew because my best friend had already texted her to tell her how proud she was of her.  ( I told you my friend was only half joking lol )  I immediately asked her if she was okay?  She said she was fine and was just really hoping that the woman was going to be okay.  When she shared the details of the rescue I couldn't help but be impressed with how she described it with all her lifeguard terminology.  Words like unresponsive, compression's, BVM or bag valve mask, rescue breathing.

 Listening, I knew that a career in the medical field is her calling.


We found out later that the woman did not make it.  This is the hard part.  Knowing that sometimes no matter how hard you try it might not be enough.  My thoughts and prayers are with this woman whose name was Michelle and her friends and family.

My husband and I always tease Sydnee about what a "cushy" job she has.  We won't be saying that again anytime soon.  It's days like yesterday that are a stark reminder how things can change in a second.

This is Sydnee's third summer life guarding.  Everyday when she comes home we ask her "any rescues today?"  She had always replied no, just a few stingray stings or the occasional swim assist.

Hopefully, that's all it will be for the rest of the summer.