Hard Day, Good Lesson

The Easter egg hunt we attended at our church was not what we expected this year. It was much anticipated (I have loved it the last 2 years) and we started the day on a high note. Allie and I went to Target earlier that morning to get her Easter basket and made it into a Starbucks donut date where she charmed all the old men there drinking their coffee.

The egg hunt started out as it has every year, with face painting, lunch (Mmm hotdogs and cookies) and then it was time for the entertainment. They use this time to get all the kids inside so they can begin putting out the eggs in the big grassy area.

So, Arnie the Yo-yo guy had all the kids wide-eyed and laughing with his quick whit and quicker hands as he performed one yo-yo trick after another while telling a story. About 10 minutes into the performance, a lady, a few rows in front of us stood up and asked if there were any nurses in the building. Her father-in-law (John Kirby) was having difficulty breathing.

Several nurses rushed forward to see what help they could be and they asked for a few men to help the gentleman from the room so he could be evaluated in a more private setting. As they were trying to transport him, he collapsed. This quickly sent all the men (without infants in their arms) in the room into motion, trying to move chairs out the way in an effort to lay him down.

During this time, the show had stopped and everyone had eyes forward, watching the commotion. Thankfully, Arnie quickly assessing the situation, made an announcement to have all the children head outside to begin the egg hunt as the nurses began chest compressions.

Jake took Allie out with the other kids and I remained behind, holding Adrian, hoping to see John get up and walk away unscathed. I just didn’t feel like I could be a part of the joyous egg hunt going on outside as there was a man barely holding on to his life, laying on the floor of the sanctuary.

I stood there for a few minutes, trying to hold back the tears, praying God would spare this man’s (whom I had never met before) life. Knowing I wasn’t of any help in there and definitely wasn’t going to be able to keep it together much longer, I went outside to see how everyone there was doing.

Thanks to Arnie’s quick thinking, I don’t think a single child (except maybe those close to John) had any clue what was transpiring inside. They were all happily collecting eggs in their colorful baskets in the sunshine. I spotted Jake and Allie in the 2-4 year old section and Jake told me they had left Allie’s basket inside the church (right by where they were still doing chest compressions on John).

I hesitatingly stepped back inside to grab her basket as Jake was already holding half a dozen eggs in his shirt. I made the mistake of looking towards everyone huddled around John just as the EMT said ‘he’s moving’, but all the movement I saw was him gasping for breath like a fish too long out of water. That did it. I completely lost it and started just balling.

I tried hard to collect myself before going back outside amongst the mayhem of happy, egg collecting children. Handing Allie her basket, I watched as she excitedly ran from egg to egg picking up as many as she could get to. While I was happy to see her enjoying herself so much, I also felt heavt guilt knowing a family there was experiencing such pain possibly watching a much loved father, husband and grandfather dying.

We left soon after and noticed all the emergency vehicles still there in the parking lot. They hadn’t moved John yet and Jake thought that was probably a bad sign. I did find out in church the next morning that he did make it through that day, thanks to the quick action of the nurses. Pastor Paul said John Kirby had suffered a major heart attack, but they were optimistic and hopeful he would live.

While I know that John was an older gentleman, that day left me reeling with the realization of how fleeting life is for all of us. Make the most of it!!!