What would you say?

I just got done watching live video online (with no sound) of the Chilean miners being pulled out....the last 4. Everyone out alive. Watching this was interesting. I'm not a claustrophobic person, but I can't even imagine being stuck underground for over 2 months and then having to get in a cylinder barely wide enough for my body to be pulled out of the earth. The amount of time it took just to get one person up...What must it have been like for the last minor waiting down there for the cylinder to make it's way back down to get him.

I was watching the reactions of the people at the top and it was just so emotional. Some of them were just over joyed by the fact that everyone was safe they couldn't stop smiling. Rightfully so I think. Then there were those who were crying over the cylinder just starting to come out of the earth, while others were still skeptical until their loved one was actually out of the cylinder and in their arms. Mothers or wives so composed for what was going on to their family and then young men putting up a futile battle to hold back tears.

The embraces between these families was intense. So tight, so long and so passionate. Although I'm sure they were not speaking English I wish I could have heard what they were saying to each other. What do you say in that situation? There are really no words that I could think of that would adequately describe my joy and relief.

When I was very young...5-7 years I think, my dad was still in the Navy and going on deployment over seas. He was stationed in Bahrain. I remember hearing that his ship was being bombed (or something of that nature) and didn't understand why mom was so stressed out about it but knew that everyone was worried. I started having dreams about fireballs running through the city chasing people and that my dad got "caught" by a fireball. I would wake up crying but that was really the extent of it. I didn't know the consequence of what I was dreaming.

In high school, dad had a heart attack. My parents woke me up very early one morning to tell me they were going to the hospital but not to worry, they would call me later and just to go to school as normal. I had a volleyball game that night and was told to go and I could come see dad after the game. They had taken him during the day to Raleigh (we were living in a smaller town at the time) and he had surgery. When I got there, the nurse pulled me aside and told me "You can go in the ICU and see him, but he his intubated and on machines still. If you're going to get upset or cry you will need to leave. He can't see you get upset, he needs everyone to be happy".

I walked very bravely and naively into the ICU, like I was made of stone. He was in the bed in straight sight of the door and I immediately felt my insides falling apart. When I walked closer, I was so scared. He was discolored all over, a yellowish tint and there were bandages all over his chest. The intubation tubes seem to swallow his face and he was awake looking around to find everyone. They only allowed 2 at a time back there, so my mom and I were there. I immediately grabbed his hand and he squeezed me so hard and all I could muster was "Yes, we won the game." I managed an "I love you daddy" and felt my eyes watering and the nurse gave me the look. I had to leave.

At that moment I understood mortality in a way I never wanted to. Seeing your father, a person that is supposed to be the rock, the foundation of the family, the tough man that never feels pain, is never weak and has never cried...for him to be lying nearly helpless attached to machines was simply more than I could bare. But a few days later, he's walking, talking, laughing and living, and there was that sigh of relief...the same sigh I saw tonight. The sigh that says "thank you Lord for blessing us with one more day".

I couldn't say anything that day, but if I could go back or even now I would say: you are the one who has shown me how to love, how to be humble, how to work hard, how to value what I have and make something of myself. You have given me a good life and I am forever grateful. I love you more than you will ever know and am glad that I have more time with you.

Phewwww...happy to be alive, happy to have two healthy children that are safe in their bed tonight, happy to have a husband that loves and supports me, happy to have a family that is always there and able to see their grandchildren grow up. We are a blessed family.