Josiah's Journey

Josiah loves water. Bathing in it, swimming in it, playing in it. If there is a body of water anywhere near, you can bet Josiah will find it. And enjoy it. He loves to immerse his entire body under water. And stay there. He stays under water for a very long time. Entirely too long. I used to count. Sometimes I had to stop counting because I was way past comfortable. I would scoop him up out of the water for a breath. He didn't seem to need it. But it certainly reassured me.

There must be something about the pressure of the water that he likes. I've tried it. I've stayed under water as long as I possibly could. It was okay. Never really thrilled me. Josiah however, thrives on it.

We had an above ground pool a few years ago. Everyone knew as soon as the last person was out of the pool, the ladder came out too. It was laid down on it's side a few feet away from the pool. Not much of a safety feature, but the best we had at the time. Josiah loved that pool. Once inside, he would hold on to the ladder and force himself underwater. His entire body would be straight out, spread eagle while he held himself under. I parked myself right next to him. Every so often, I would reach down, bring him up and make him take a break. He didn't like that. He wanted to stay under.

Once, unescorted, Josiah walked right out the front door. It was a beautiful summer day. None of us saw him go. About 5 minutes later, we realized he was gone. We all took off running. My husband found him, down the street and around the bend. He was heading for the lake. 5 cars parked on the road when they noticed Josiah walking down the embankment toward the water. Alone. They stopped him from going any further. I am so grateful for the compassion of strangers. I know without a doubt they saved my son from what could have been a tragic accident that day.

Another time the house seemed exceptionally quiet. I yelled out, "Anyone have Josiah?" I quickly glanced out the back door. The pool ladder was NOT laying on the ground. It was right side up, in the water. I knew right then where he was. My heart stopped. I braced myself for what I would find. I had a feeling it would be horrific.

Josiah was hanging on to the ladder, fully immersed under water. Having a blast. I yanked that boy so quickly out of that pool I'm sure he didn't know what was happening to him. I hugged his little body tightly to mine, tears streaming down my face.

That was the end of our backyard pool. I let all the water out that very hour. We dismantled the entire thing and dragged it to the trash.

Josiah loves water. A little too much. Unfortunately, we will never have another backyard pool. We love Josiah way too much.