In my dream I kept asking, “What would a Boy Scout do?” Sean and I have had many conversations regarding what to do if he ever gets lost. None of his answers ever coincided with what a Boy Scout would do.
That scares me….
Boy Scouts and fear of not having all my kids safe and sound under my roof are forefront in my mind as I write this. We are not only newly home from Boy Scout camp, but Life has thrown us some curves where Sean has acted in many ways like the scout that he is becoming.
Elk Grove, the town where I live, has an international bike race every year. I look forward to it almost as much as Christmas. The streets are prepared, bikers from all over the world travel the race route in anticipation, the jumbotrons go up… and it all happens at the end of my street.
Even with all the barriers and volunteers to control traffic and pedestrians, unfortunate incidents still occur.
The entire family was standing on a corner, safely tucked behind a barrier, watching the final lap of a race. A boy on his bicycle materialized from somewhere.
At the same time that the race volunteer raised her flag and said “Wait,” the boy took off to cross the road.
Neither saw each other and the racer collided with the boy right in front of us.
Fortunately, both were OK.
Sean later mentioned that he was glad he didn’t have to put his Boy Scout first aid training into action.
But tonight he did…
Smokey had another episode. She was outside – and call me a bad mom, but I’m not really sure how long. 5 minutes? 10 minutes? The evening was cool – almost a perfect coming-to-an-end summer night.
I was on the phone with a friend, learning that they are moving away in a few weeks.
I wasn’t paying attention.
Then I noticed Smokey outside. She was in her usual pose, laying on the grass surveying the yard for danger.
But she looked different.
I called out her name and hung up on my friend. I also called out to Rich.
He came running and the family sprang into action. We brought Smokey inside to try and cool her off and get her breathing normally again. The fan came out and water was splashed on her.
Then Sean did a most remarkable thing.
He brought out an ice pack from the freezer. It’s a flexible one that can be wrapped around a body part. We placed it around Smokey’s neck hoping to cool her carotid arteries and thus cool her.
It should have worked but Smokey wasn’t responding.
We decided to try and get her to the animal hospital. Sean called out something like “We have to mobilize” and proceeded to follow every direction we gave him to a tee. Including turning off the lights even if I was still maneuvering in the room.
He was calm and wonderful throughout the whole ordeal. He tried to comfort his sisters and showed no reservations when asked if he wanted to go back to the trauma room and say good night to our beloved family friend of 15 years.
Sean even tried to lighten the mood by sharing his bevy of Chuck Norris jokes.
We’re not sure what will happen with Smokey. Surely, there will come a time….
The house is quiet and I am definitely freaking out inside not having all of my children – two and four-legged - home safe and sound. I’m no dream interpreter but I would bet my nightmare has something to do with Smokey not being around tonight.
Whatever the future holds, though, I know one thing for sure.
I have one absolutely terrific son and his name is not Autism.
His name is Sean.
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