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The Save

a childhood memory

By Samantha MatisPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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The Save
Photo by Raphaël Biscaldi on Unsplash

I grew up in a small town, it was so small that it only had an elementary school and once you were out of elementary school you had to take a bus to a close by county to go to middle and high school. There wasn't even a grocery store, we only had a couple of convenience stores to get gas or snacks. My family lived in a home with a house on either side of us. One neighbor had a pool, and we all went there to swim pretty often. The three families knew each other well. It's funny the things that stick with you so many years later like the day my dad jumped into a pool fully clothed.

The family with the pool, we will call them the James family. The other family I will call the Lowes. Mama Lowe kind of looked down her nose at my family, she was fake friendly. Even as a kid I picked up on it. I don't know that it's relevant to this story, but it's part of what I remember of her. The James family was kind and inviting and real friendly, not the fake type. They often invited us over for cook outs, dinner, pool time, and just to hang out. A lot of my childhood memories between second and fifth grade are from times spent at their home.

One day in particular stands out in my memory. It is the day my dad saved oldest son Lowe. I'm not sure why the adult Jameses weren't there that day, but their son, my sister, the Lowe brothers, and I were swimming. My dad and mama Lowe were there. I don't remember what was going on for it to be that way. My dad especially because he wasn't a very social person, and generally my mother would be the one in this type of scenario. That's not to say my dad wasn't a great dad, he loved his family, but he had social anxiety. This makes for the events that day to have the best possible outcome because my mother couldn't swim to save her life (pun intended).

I don't remember a lot from that day. I remember my dad and mama Lowe sitting in the chairs by the pool. I remember mama Lowe trying to make conversation and my dad with his clear look of annoyance that I know means he wished she would just stop talking and sit in silence. We were all playing and swimming as this went on. I don't remember what all we played or what we did, but the moment I begin to rememer vividly was when I was in the shallow end kind of where it began to slope. Oldest son Lowe jumped into the pool overshooting where he meant to go in and landed where the slope was too steep to touch the bottom, which wouldn't be an issue if he knew how to swim, but oldest son Lowe did not know how to swim. He was flailing and panicking. I remember looking on in horror and looked over to the adults. My dad had already stood up and was taking his watch off, he then jumped into the pool fully clothed, including his shoes. He scooped the boy up and set him onto the concrete. My dad gets out of the pool and this is when mama Lowe finally gets her butt out of her seat, but not to thank my father or grab her son and hug him thankful he was saved. Mama Lowe began screaming at her son. She was angry that he scared his little brother.

As a child I couldn't understand why she was yelling at her son who could have very easily drowned. Why she didn't immediately jump into action to save her child? Why didn't she thank my father for jumping into the pool to save him? It's been over 30 years and I still don't understand her reaction. I'm a mother and couldn't imagine one of my children being in the situation her son was in and not immediately jumping up and jumping into the pool. That's what we are supposed to do as parents, we protect our children and do whatever we have to in order to save our children. I can still see the fear on son Lowe's face, the complete panic when he realized he was not in the shallow end. I can't imagine what it must have felt like to go through that and then have your mother be angry and yell at you instead of comforting you.

I wish I could understand what transpired that day, but I don't think I ever will. What I know is that my dad took only a moment to slip his watch off and then jump in the pool to save a life. He didn't get thanked, he didn't get recognition, he just did it and we went quietly home. He never said a word about any of it and I don't know if he even remembers the event. Looking back on moments like that makes me thankful for the parents I have. A father willing to jump in to save a child and a mother that would comfort me and hold me. My family is far from perfect and we have plenty of dysfunction but one thing is for sure, there was love in our home and the willingness to jump in to save someone in need.

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About the Creator

Samantha Matis

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