35: Who Have You Thanked Today?
I often wonder what will happen in our day that will inspire me to GIVE. Today was definitely something I was not expecting but I decided to seize the opportunity to use something as simple as a Thank You to GIVE back to some very important people.
GIVE 35: Day 35
Today started like most other days. Dogs out for a run, child fed, sun shining – I even got to have a shower this morning. Then my son Nic and I headed out for his gymnastic class. It’s a remarkable gymnastic room, newly built at our local Community Centre. Nic started in this class at 18 months old. It has increased his confidence, balance, listening skills and most of all wears him out!
Today we arrived just a few minutes early for class and while we were sitting having a quick snack a “Mom” came bolting out of the gymnastic room with the “fear of God” in her eyes. A small group had gathered at the back of the gym and were hovering over what I assumed was a child.
The Community Centre’s trained staff soon came running and it was obvious an accident had occurred. Within 4 minutes of that Mom running out of the gym to find help, the West Vancouver Fire Department had arrived. They are just around the corner from the Centre and were there so fast I was shocked. They immediately began to help the little girl while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
As I sat and watched everyone take such great care of her (just 4 years old) I couldn’t help but to cry. I put myself in her Mother’s shoes and had a strong feeling of helplessness for her that over whelmed me. She must have been terrified to see her little girl had stopped breathing. The accident which happened while jumping into a pit of foam squares had whipped her head just a little too far back and caused her to stop breathing for just a moment. . My son has jumped into that pit 100 times and it could have been him lying there.
My GIVE today was to stop by the Fire Station and thank the Firefighters for all they do in our community. We brought a few cookies as well on my son’s suggestion. They are always there for us whether it’s a community event or a community in need. They even have their own charitable organization called The West Vancouver Charitable Society. In our community they support everything from The Children’s Hospital, the Lookout Society to the Burn Fund and so much more.
When you become a Fire Fighter you aren’t doing it to make a million dollars. You do it as a commitment to people, a commitment to GIVE back to the community you work in and to even risk your life to save another. Watching them at work yesterday made me have some piece of mind that if anything ever happened to my son they would be there in an instant to support us. Not every Mother in the world has that extra back up support and we are grateful for it.
Thank you is such a simple GIVE we all forget to do some days. I would love to hear what you will do today to thank someone special in your life. Send me your story!
Commitment: 1/2 hour
Cost: $5.00 cookies
Lesson: Invaluable for my son