Blogtember - The time I was very afraid

A story about a time you were very afraid.

February 3, 2002

..was the scariest night of my life. I was in 7th grade, and my dad had just started a new job working a late security shift at a local plant. He had only been on the job maybe a month. We had just went to bed about 30 minutes before the phone rang. Our phone never rang past 9:00, so it was a little bizaarr. My mother answered the phone, and was very cool and calm throughout the entire conversation, but you can also tell she was a bit distraught. My mother can handle pressure like a champ. She hung up and told us to get up very quickly and pack a bag that my aunt would be there shortly to pick us up. Uh, Mom?  She finally told us that they were rushing my dad to the ER. He had had a heart attack and collapsed at work. 

As a middle schooler, that  rocked my world. We knew nothing more than he was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital in Athens. My mind raced, and of course expected the worst. My uncle pulled up in the drive way, my mother was still handling the situation like it was a routine.  He of course asked if we were okay, and at the time, I was still not quite sure how I was doing. We drove the rest of the way to their house in silence. I got out and went straight to the bedroom and cried, and cried, and cried. If only there were a way to count the tears that I shed that night. I had no idea till a few hours later how he was doing or if he was even alive. Of course my 12 year old self assumed the worst. 

I was horrified of what may happen to him. My dad was my rock, and my hero. There wasn't a thing that he could do that could make me love him any less. 

I know you can hardly see him, but I have very few pictures of him here

Luckily, my dad was able to come home a few surgeries and days later. Our lives drastically changed after that night in more ways than one. We've had a few scares since--more heart attacks, 2 strokes, and a near death episode of food poisoning, but none compared to how I felt as a frail little girl just wanting her daddy to be okay and to come home. I could not imagine where I would be today without that man if something would have happened to him. I consider myself blessed that I was able to see him walk away, many do not get the opportunity to see their loved ones again. I counted my blessings twice that day and from there on out.