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It’s never easy to hear of a child passing. You are sad for the family, for the child who was taken too soon, and for the parents. Because as a parent, you can’t possibly imagine what it would feel like to lose a child. Especially in a tragic way.
Last week, I heard of a little boy passing in a drowning incident. Of course it broke my heart and I said a prayer for the family as they faced this difficult and heartbreaking time.
Yesterday, I received an email regarding the boy and to my shock and dismay, I realized I knew his mom. She was Nolan’s preschool teacher last year.
Tears filled my eyes and my heart broke for her. She is honestly one of the sweetest and most beautiful souls I have ever met, and I wast at a loss for what to do in that moment.
We started school with only two months left, and I was worried how Nolan would adjust. But every time I dropped him off I knew he would be in good hands with her and he loved her. She taught Nolan so much in the short time he was in class and she always made him feel comfortable and welcome.
In times like this it’s not hard to question why. Why doesn’t she get to experience life with her son? Why was he taken too soon? How will she ever cope with such a horrific tragedy and will her heart ever feel unbroken again? How do you move on after something like this?
I don’t even know where I’m going with this post other than to ask you for prayers. Prayers for the child and the family. I can’t imagine how they’re feeling in this difficult time and I wish there was something I could do to help them. But for now, prayers will have to be enough.
I’m asking you to please put your children in swimming lessons. I don’t know if this child had taken swimming lessons or what exactly happened, but drowning is the #1 cause of death in children ages 1-4. If there is any sliver of a way that something like this can maybe be avoided, we need to be proactive and do that. No one’s child is meant to be an example, but it really makes you look at your child and think, “what if that were my son?” A scary thought that brings me sick to my stomach even thinking about. And has made me want to march right down to the pool today and sign him up for lessons.
I often take the small things for granted and forget how special this time with my children is. After getting the news yesterday, I held my children a little tighter. When my son asked me to go outside and play with him, I did. Despite the mounds of work sitting on my desk and the rapidly approaching deadlines, I told myself “it can wait”. I shut off my computer and went outside to push him on the swing. I smothered him with kisses and he told me he was wiping them off so that I would chase him. I chased him around the backyard and tackled him into a fit of laughter. I kissed those rosy, chunky toddler cheeks and told him how much I love him.
Because at any day, that could be taken away. In a blink of an eye. When tragedy strikes, it makes you reevaluate your own life and remind you how precious life really is. So today, I ask that you take some extra time with your babies. Enroll them in swim lessons. And say a prayer for my son’s preschool teacher and her family. May God help them through this difficult time and heal their hearts.
