The Time God Showed Up at My High School Reunion

There’s one thing that can always be said about the North Pitt High Panthers: we sure know how to throw a memorable reunion. Not twenty minutes into last night’s Panther Palooza multi-class reunion, a little girl almost drowned in the pool of the hotel. Apparently there was a group of teenaged girls having a pool party, and one of them slipped beneath the water on the deep end and went unnoticed. At the same time, a group of Spaniards were in their room on the fourth floor and one of them looked out the window and noticed the girl, lifeless, at the bottom of the pool. The men raced down to the first floor, one of them dove in, and together they pulled her out of the pool.

It was about that time that the attendees of the reunion noticed the commotion and some with medical training ran to help. I (not having had any significant medical training) went out to be nosy. It was a horrifying scene: the little girl was laid out on the concrete, still as a stone, with gray lips and eyes that looked permanently closed. While the men who’d pulled her out of the pool tirelessly performed CPR, all I could do was stand there and pray. So pray I did. I prayed with a fervor I’ve never known before. I’m not a particularly religious person, but I felt a distinct calm settle over me as I prayed. I felt a certainty that she was going to be okay. After about ten minutes of rescue breathing and chest compressions, the girl began to spit up copious amounts of water. The volume of water that came out of that little body was amazing. It was also reassuring. About the time the ambulance and rescue crew arrived on the scene she began to respond and breath on her own. I’ve never felt so relieved in all my life.

After, while we waited in line at the bar (my nerves were shot to shit), we all agreed that the little girl’s survival was a result of God moving in her life. And that’s the story of the time God showed up at my high school reunion.