GIFT OF LIFE

'The baby died', Cinnamon informed me as we were leaving the children's gym area. She held up her hands, mimicking the baby holding up its hands in the air as it lay on its back unable to breathe. I was working out upstairs and was unaware of what had happened until I descended the stairs and saw an ambulance and a fire truck by the back door next to the children's gym entrance.

My first thought was that I hoped nothing was wrong with my children. The administrators of the gym were walking about in the hallways and in the play area as I hurried inside to find my children. The entire front section of the children's gym was evacuated, with the children being sent to the back in the basketball court, as the ambulance drove away. Several adults walked about in the toddler section looking for something on the floor.

As we left, I asked the person at the front who took my gym card what had transpired. He said that a child had a seizure and stopped breathing for a while but that all was fine in the end. I assured my children that the baby did not die as they had believed but I had thought the real reason for the unfortunate and most frightening incident was due to choking on a small part of a toy.

I listened to Cinnamon describe the father screaming as he arrived. She also let me know that 'a big kid', a boy, was crying. Certainly things like this can happen anywhere and at any time but becomes more real when you witness an incident such as this yourself. I was glad nothing had happened to my children but somehow wished they did not have to see any of what had happened.  

An incident such as this one is certainly frightening for the parent affected and all parents in general as we fear the worse. It also brings into perspective how precious life is, how quickly it can be taken from us, and how we should value every minute of the gift of life we have been given.