Those tiny, tiny fingers holding onto the pool edge, suddenly were not. Instead, there were big, round, vividly blue eyes screaming "Hey! Down here! Help me!". It seemed that life was literally flashing before my eyes, but not my life.
It was this beautiful baby's life.
I don't know her name or anything more than the fact she was probably about one year old.
I stepped into the pool, which was no more than a half foot deep, and picked up the little angel. She gasped, look at me, and held onto me like I was her mom. She didn't cry, she just held on.
Which is when I realized, "Where is her mom?! How could a woman leave her child in a pool ALONE?"
Oh and there she came from across the pool area, striding towards me with over-confidence surrounding her. She asked, "What happened?" I began to explain and she took the child and walked away before I really even started.
I saved a life that day. I was a well trained lifeguard, I blew my whistle, saved a life. Where were the thanks? I still wonder. I still see those blue eyes looking at me. It was such a sad day for me when I realized I wasn't more than a lifeguard. I wasn't the girl who saved this baby's life, but merely a lifeguard doing my job. I still had a little happiness because I knew the baby appreciated me when she wrapped her tiny little fingers around me and stared at me with those big, round, vividly blue eyes.
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