I haven’t written one of these in a while, but coincidentally it’s Tuesday, so here we go.
Last night my two-year-old daughter woke up around midnight with a fever. We checked her temperature, gave her some Tylenol and she fell back asleep. Around 3:00 am she woke up again, only this time throwing up. As we were cleaning her up, she suddenly started to have a febrile seizure.
We’ve never experienced this and I quickly called 911. An ambulance was dispatched and the next thing I knew we were in the Hospital.
At 8:30 am my daughter was discharged. Walking cheerfully with her stuffed zebra, it was if nothing ever happened. Febrile seizures are apparently quite common with children and fevers. It just so happened that my wife had an appointment her doctor at 8:45 am. We’re expecting another baby within weeks.
My daughter and I got in the car and left the paid parking lot. Just as we were leaving she said, “Daddy, I really need some water.”
I pulled over to the side of the road and reached into the backseat to give her some water. We were stopped for a total of 10 seconds when an older man pulled up next to me, rolled down his window and began furiously yelling at me saying how I was parked illegally and that I should be in the paid parking lot. The one I had just left!
I had to take a second to breathe and to quietly let him finish. After he was done yelling, he quickly sped away not giving me a chance to respond.
The lesson here is this:
Take a breath. Seriously.
In Boston, we saw thousands of people come together in solidarity to support those whose lives were changed and drastically altered last Monday. Random strangers helped each other without question. And the runners, continued running, all the way to the hospital to give blood.
We’re living in tremendous times, and yet all too often we take advantage of both the opportunity and gift we’ve all been given. We never know how someone’s day started, or where they’ve been, or what they’ve been through.
I’ve taken far too many breaths in the past 12 hours.
A few more won’t hurt.
