I nearly choked on my salad at lunch yesterday when I read the "breaking news" on www.goerie.com about the young girls -- 18 mos. & 2 years -- who drown in a Waterford pond yesterday. (You do know you can check goerie.com throughout the day for the latest breaking news, right?). If you haven't read the story, you can do so here.
As a mother -- of two little girls no less -- I was instantly heartsick -- for the girls, their families, the neighbor who owned the pond and the poor 18-year-old babysitter who will probably be scarred for life.
There's plenty of hurt to go around in this tragic incident.
Drowning stories are always especially frightening to me since we have an in-ground pool, 12-mile creek in our backyard and a neighbor with a "pond" -- usually it's dry, but sometimes it's filled with thick swampy water.
The neighbor on the other side of us had a big, unfenced water garden in their backyard. Last night, I learned they are filling it in. They have two young children living there and the water garden was a hazard they decided they just didn't need. Whether they made the choice to do that before or after yesterday's tragic news, I don't know. But, I'm glad they did because my kids are forever running over there to play with their kids. And, I have always had visions of them slipping while trying to see the fish and tumbling into that rock-filled water garden pond.
Our swimming pool is completely fenced and has gates that lock securely (so much so that adults have trouble opening them). But, I still worry -- about my kids, the neighbor kids, our cats, the neighbor's cats, chipmunks ... heck, I fish beetles and frogs out of there because I don't want them to drown.
Fortunately, my kids are now strong swimmers. Both have been taking swim lessons since they were in diapers. Both have advanced swimming skills and are capable of swimming -- in deep water -- efficiently and effectively.
Does it mean they're safe from drowning? Absolutely not. I am fully aware of that.
Tragedy can happen in minutes, seconds -- when you least expect it -- as yesterday's horrible incident illustrated.