Small packages

They beam down at me from just above my pillow in a mixed shade of green, blue and grey accompanied by a tiny dimple, pearly whites and unruly morning hair.  It's my son's eyes, bright and smiling, as he gently nudges my shoulder and softly says, "Mom, are you ready to wake up?".  I've only been asleep for an hour and groggily say, "Not really, buddy, why?".

"I want to give you your Christmas gift" comes the reply.  I can tell by the look on his face that he's quite proud of this gift so I start to wake up.  The reaction time of a 13-year old boy is mind boggling!  In the time it takes me to adjust my pillow and begin sitting up, he flips on the bedside lamp with lightening speed while simultaneously turning to grab a small box from across the room.  Hello!!! Bright light! If I had any qualms about waking up they're quickly forgotten as the light infuses my sleepy eyes with painful brightness.  Good golly.

He presents me with a tiny black sateen box---the kind that jewelry comes in.   Before I open the box, he asks me to remove my current necklace and wear what he is now giving me.  Right about now there are a couple thoughts flying through my mind.  One is the recollection of some 'beautiful' jewelry that as a little girl I had given my mom for Christmas. Oh, please, God let him have better taste than I did! (Bless you, Mom, for keeping it all these years in spite of the way it looks.)  Second and more calming is the fact that he's a fairly good judge of all things Mom and soaks up off-handed comments I make about likes and dislikes.

So I open the box.  It's a box in a box.  Ever notice how jewelry makers have a knack for nestling one box in another? Is that to protect the contents? I'm unclear on how much jostling it takes to damage a forged  metal piece of jewelry packed in a sturdily constructed velveteen cushioned box within a box but, okay, whatever.  Pack to your heart's content.  I open the smaller interior box.

A new car, a million dollars or the trip of a lifetime pale in comparison to my gift.   It's a simple sterling silver open heart shaped pendant.  It was handpicked for me by my sweet, sweet son.  I give him a huge thank-you hug and kiss on the cheek.  I tell him I love him and wonder if he realizes how special he is with his own heart of gold that touches me daily.  Of course he knows because all through his life I've told him that he makes my heart smile.  Today was certainly no exception! I love you, Connor.

I know they're supposed to be looking out a window but to me it looks like snowman jail. Yep, that's what I think.

Rockin' and rollin'

I spent the last week in Maryland attending a class for Earthquake Preparedness.  The title struck me as odd because my idea of EQ preparedness is to say "oh sh**" and run like the dickens from the chaos of the world shaking around me.  There's really no training required for that response and I've got it down to a science.

Okay so that's not really my response to the ground shaking, rumbling, wooziness also known as earthquakes.  They are, however, unnerving to me because they come with no warning.  For those few seconds, your heart may race and your world is physically shaken but it all calms down and life is good.  Sort of.  In reality, you're waiting for the next temblor knowing that they rarely come alone.  I compare this to scary movies when you just know for certain that there's another scary guy around the corner.

The class focused on the scope of emergency responses for such events.  Whew! Imagine my relief when I realized the class wouldn't be running sprints to the door to see who got out of the building the fastest.  Ready.....set......go! 

Seriously though.  It's astounding to see the scope of agencies, people, equipment, resources, cooperation, coordination and communication (the three C's, they call it) and ingenuity that comes into play during a catastrophe such as an earthquake.  Dispatching will still be my role if a catastrophe ever strikes and this class helped emphasize that every role is important.  All levels of emergency responders and management will be involved from the upper echelon to the little people.  And all levels will have something to contribute, something that puts the extra piece of the puzzle into place.

There's no need for details of lessons learned, presentations or class literature on the blog here though.
It was just nice to go to training that I feel will be useful.  It was nice to see that the team truly does consist of everyone.  There is some amazing talent out there in the world of emergency responders but I knew that before class began. (wink and smile)