NICHOLAS' STORY
NICHOLAS' STORY
Nicholas was my 1st child. He was born January 29, 1994. We waited a long time to have children so once we did, we wanted to do everything right. I wanted this child to grow up happy, healthy and well-adjusted. I read all the parenting books I could get my hands on, we practiced attachment parenting. He was breast fed, slept in our bed for his first several months of his life and was immunized against everything possible including the chicken pox even when the insurance wouldn't pay for it.
Nicholas was a healthy, active, happy
little boy who loved to eat ice cream with his dad. He dumped every toy box he
ever saw, I think he thought all the best toys must be at the bottom. He was
just learning to color and loved to be read to, Goodnight Moon was his favorite.
All that reading, worrying and loving was paying off, but I couldn't help but
worry about anything that I thought could be a hazard to him and the pool in our
backyard worried me the most. We knew that an isolation fence around the pool or
a automatic pool cover was an absolute necessity to protect him. We had a tall,
unclimbable fence installed around it when he was 9 months old. Nicholas took
his first steps the very next day.
I also worked hard to find good day care for him while I while I worked as a dental hygienist. The provider I chose is a life-long friend of a friend who was just starting her day care. Nicholas was her first charge. She and her two home -schooled daughters, loved him and played with him. They treated him like one of their family. Francie's day care was everything I wanted in a care situation, even then I always picked him up at my earliest opportunity so I could spend more time with him. Nicholas seemed happy and contented there.
On May 8, 1996, Nicholas somehow got
out of the fence that surrounded the outdoor play yard at that day care home and
by the time he was found he had drowned in the next door neighbor's unfenced
pool.
He was 2 years, 3 months and 9 days old.
The morning of the accident, Nicholas woke up at his usual early hour and wanted to watch Aladdin. He ate French toast and milk for breakfast , his father dressed him all the while telling him that he loved him as they played. I drove him to day care while we played peek a boo and Itsy bitsy spider in the car. When I left for work, he gave me a kiss and hug and I told him I loved him. He went back to having fun hitting a ball with a stick.
At about 10:20 AM, Francie called me at work. She said " Nicholas is alive. The paramedics are with him. He fell in a pool." I'll remember those words till the day I die.
The rest of the day is a blur. My office manager drove me to the day care where
I saw them doing CPR on him, then to Children's Hospital where he was being
airlifted. My husband met me there. After many tests, we were told that Nicholas
was breathing on his own but that it is a very primitive function and that is
all he was able to do. We made the decision to turn off the machines and let him
go home. I held and rocked him while his breathing got quieter and quieter,
until it was gone. He died at about 10:00 PM.
Nicholas' life was much too short, but his impact has been great. There have been many changes made in our world as a result of this little boy. Pools have been fenced, 'I Love Yous said and priorities changed forever. Nicholas may have made more changes in our world by leaving it than he may have ever made by staying. Still, I would give that all away in a second to have him back