I went to do my laundry early this morning. My dog had not felt up to long walks--or short walks, for that matter--and so I had not gone by the adjoining pool all week. I don't know if I would have noticed anything if I had. There were the usual signs on the gate--Pool closed/Spa closed--but that happens every time they clean the pool. The only difference this time was the chain and padlock to assure that nobody could enter, not even for a soda. That was off.
This morning, as I walked closer to the gate, I noticed something strange to the side. Flowers--several bunches of them--were layered in front of the spa stairs. I knew then that this was not an ordinary closing. I went inside, confused, and started working on my clothes.
As I continued, a lovely couple came in. I asked them if they knew what had happened--it turns out that they were here visiting from Scotland and had heard about it from their relatives in the complex. It happened at a birthday party. Some residents and their guests were celebrating. It only took a minute for the celebration to turn to nightmare. Someone realized that the baby was gone. Two years old--old enough to walk, but not old enough to defend himself, not even in a hot tub only three feet deep. I don't know who found the boy, but I know that someone administered CPR while someone else frantically called "911". The ambulance arrived quickly, I was told, and it was only ten minutes to the hospital, but it was already too late. The boy was pronounced dead on arrival.
I am sure that there is not a parent alive that doesn't shiver when they hear those words. I don't think anyone with children doesn't have a fleeting thought, 'That could have been my child!' My kids are grown with children of their own, but I still think that. I remember thinking it when I would hear of a close call or death by drowning, and I think it now about my grandkids. Tragedy leaves its mark.
My sympathy and prayers go out to the family, even though I don't know them. I hope that they are able to get help and that they have good family and friends that can be with them now. I looked at the news online when I got home, trying to find more information, and there was very little. It's an ongoing investigation, and the boy has still not been identified. As is the case today, the news piece was followed by an invitation to comment. One woman was sympathetic, but the second comment was anything but. The writer insinuated that it was the parent's lack of attention to the child that caused this--that the parent was at fault.
I wasn't there. I don't know anything about the situation. But then, neither did the person writing the piece. What I do know is that it takes seconds to go from celebration to tragedy. It might be inattention, it might be a child's hand slipping out of yours and those little feet padding away toward an attractive destination. It could be the mother thinking the father was watching and the father thinking the mother had him. It could have been anything. Please don't judge. Instead, use the energy you waste judging to pray. Please pray. Pray for the parents. Pray for the family. And pray for the rest of us here at my complex who have been touched, however slightly, by tragedy.