A Life Wasted

Janie

The day after the encounter with the FAA and DEA I asked my friends in the flying club for a meeting. I wasn't guilty of doing anything wrong and as far as I knew the issue was over, but in the course of the conversation with the feds the flying club's planes were mentioned as they were my normal mode of transportation. Since their planes had been mentioned I wanted to fill them in on all that had happened. We met at a local restaurant and I told my story. No one was concerned nor wanted me to leave the club. The only interesting thing about that meeting was that I had brought my year old daughter, Janie.
Even at a year old we realized our daughter was different from other kids.

Janie possessed a deep intensity and intelligence that we'd never seen in a baby. This trait manifest during this lunch meeting when one of the flying club members, a lawyer, felt like Janie was starring at him. The lawyer said something about her intense gaze, which caused Janie to stare him down. The lawyer said, "No kid in a high-chair is going to beat me in a staring contest." Yet she did. When he turned away he said, "That kid is scary." The bank vice-president said, "I can't believe you let a baby stare you down." Janie responded to this by turning on him. When he turned away from her stare I made a comment about them all being soft. At this point Janie turned her stare on me and I said, "No you don't. You're not going to stare me down, you little stinker pot." At my words Janie laughed and put her hands over her face.

At a year old she played and won mind games with a lawyer and a banker. There was never any doubt in my mind that Janie knew exactly what she was doing. I don't know why I called her "Stinker Pot" that day, but it stuck. I'm the only one brave enough to call her that, but to this day that's my name for her.

Not long after this we found a very nice new home in Acworth, Georgia. We were able to buy it with a big down payment and owner financing. Mary loved the house. It was in an upscale neighborhood, but every lot was two acres so we had room and a degree of privacy.

During the summer we took a vacation to Florida. Mary and I had developed a liking for exotic birds, so while on vacation we stopped at several pet shops to see the birds. One of these stops was in Cocoa Beach. They had a large, beautiful military McCall on a stand. The bird was friendly, insistently held a claw out in the standard "hold me" request. However there was a large "Do Not Touch the Bird" sign. After a few minutes of his begging to be held it was too much for me. I held my hand out to him.

Rather than step onto my hand and stay there like a normal bird, this maniac ran straight up my arm to my shoulder. He did it so fast that I didn't have a chance to stop him. So with the big bird on my shoulder I stuck my hand back and my finger against his leg, which would cause most birds to step onto my finger. Not this one, he ran to the opposite shoulder. After a couple of failed tries at getting him off my shoulder my wife came to my rescue. Being familiar with large birds, Mary expertly pushed her finger against the birds shin. Rather than mount her finger like he was suppose to, the big McCall reached down and bit Mary's finger. Bit it hard.

Mary snatched her finger back in pain. The bit was severe enough to draw a flow of blood. Mary stuck the injured finger in her mouth, but hadn't uttered a sound. Everything would have been fine if the bird hadn't mocked her. As she sucked on her finger in silent pain, the big McCall, still on my shoulder spoke the first words we had heard from him. He said, "Ouch!" Then he laughed in what was clearly a mocking laugh. The laugh was too much for my wife. Mary hit the $2,500 bird with a back hand that knocked him to the floor. The bird wisely kept his comments to himself and ran down an isle.

A few days later we were swimming at New Smyrna Beach, reputed to being "The Safest Beach in the World." Mary was on the beach watching while I was shin deep in the water with several of the kids. About two feet from me Janie played in the waves. We'll never know what caused it, but after one of the small waves had passed her and was pulling back out, Janie suddenly collapsed and dropped into the water.
I was close enough to reach her, but when she dropped into the water the small out going wave pulled her towards the sea. Knowing the current was carrying her out I dove in front of where I'd last seen with my arms spread wide. Nothing. I dove again, this time into deeper water and again I found nothing. On my third dive into the deepening water my hand found her still body.

Mary had already reacted by bringing in the other kids and I began giving her CPR while rushing towards the beach. On the beach I laid her down and continued CPR. The Coast Guard had trained me well, plus I was Red Cross certified in Advanced CPR. I had been trained in how to give CPR to a baby, but I never dreamed I would ever have to perform it on my own child. Mary knelt anxiously beside me, but she knew that I had been trained in this so she left me alone. I will never forget the moment when my Little Stinker Pot coughed up sea water and sucked in air. I rolled her over to allow the sea water to get out and her mom took over.

I don't know how long the CPR lasted, but I was surprised to see a large crowd around us. When Mary took Janie into her arms the crowd cheered wildly. Everyone said I was cool and professional. Perhaps, but I was also terrified. Mr. Cool and Professional had a tear streaked face and shook for an hour afterward.

We'd had enough with our vacation, so we went home early. After we were home one of Mary's parents had a medical problem. Can't remember what it was, but they were fine after a short hospital stay. When it first happened Mary flew home, leaving me alone with the kids for four days. I'd encouraged her to go and figured I'd have fun with the kids. It was the first, and I think only time I had kept our tribe without her. It was an education for me, as it would be for any dad. Had Mary been on my payroll I would have doubled her pay after those four days. I'd had no inkling of an idea how much work six young children were. The only constructive thing we did was to purchase and assemble a trampoline. It was something Mary had long wanted.

After the first day alone with our children I could deny her nothing.
Thankfully, no one was injured during my four days of acting like I was in charge. Mary's parents were fine and she loved her trampoline. I think she also realized that I had a new level of appreciation for her position as mom.