Life Ring of Death
The Time I Almost Drowned from Too Much Fun
Once I almost drowned. I remember it, but barely. The memory is like looking through water when everything is magnified, but distorted.
There is an annual meeting for our denomination when decisions are made by clergy and laity to guide the denomination through the year. When I was growing up, this was usually the only “vacation” we took. I didn’t realize how much work it was for my dad, who was a pastor. As kids, we loved it because we got to stay in a hotel and swim in the swimming pool every day. One year when I was 13, I even got to see Phil Collins in concert at the Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky!
We were at this convention for church folks years before Phil blew my mind with his drum solo. I don’t know what city we were in. I was only three or four years old at the time. I’m sure my siblings were nearby. We had friends with us. They were from our local church. I imagine one of them was a commissioner delegate as a lay person from our area. All of our parents were lounging in the chairs beside the pool.
In the distorted memory of the moment, I am completely alone in the swimming pool. The parents were sitting near the end of the pool in which I was playing. They were talking and enjoying themselves. The mom from the other family was always one of my favorite people at church. She was fun and as sweet as sweet can be. Sometimes when my parents had a meeting or something, she would babysit me. She had a Day Care in her house, so she was not only experienced, but she also had great toys to play with.
I didn’t really almost drown. I mean there was no dramatic rescue which included me receiving CPR from a paramedic on the side of the pool until I coughed up all the water from my lungs. There was a rescue, though.
Here is what happened. I saw the Life Ring hanging on the fence. It looked like fun to a young child. I remember is what white foam with blue lines. No one told me it was for emergencies only. I used it as a toy and float. At some point, I sat on top of it, my butt in the hole and my legs over the side. Then, I have no idea why, my child self thought it would be fun to put my legs THROUGH the loops of the rope along the outside of the ring. So, I did. I threaded my skinny little legs into the loops while I sat on top of the water. I still don’t completely understand what happened, but I can feel the sense of tumbling down when I think about it.
Somehow I tumped over. That is how we would say it in Alabama. Instead of sitting on top of the water, I was head down in the water. Then, I was tumbling further and further down. If I had meant to do it, the flips would have been glorious. I did not mean to do it. And, my legs were now stuck in the loops. I couldn’t get them clear. The harder I tried to get my legs free so that I could kick my way to the surface, the further down I tumbled.
I only know this part because my parents recounted it to me. The fun, sweet lady noticed that I was below the surface — which was unusual for me. Then, all four parents saw that I was moving toward the bottom of the pool instead of coming up for air. Someone yelled to one of the older kids, “Get her!” And, she jumped in, grabbed my little body and pulled me out of the water and onto the side of the pool.
The memory is distorted and unclear, but magnified in a way that is hard to explain. I remember having fun with the Life Ring. I remember tumbling deeper and deeper. I remember being really scared then really relieved after it was over. Most of the other details are put together from other people’s perspectives.
The sweet, fun lady from church died a couple of weeks ago. Her family is mourning that loss. She was older. It wasn’t a surprise. But, the older I get, the harder it seems to watch people disappear from the planet. I know it has something to do with facing my own mortality. I know it has something to do with facing the mortality of my own loved ones. Death is a lot like water that way. It seems to magnify and distort.
