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"a portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2021"

Jackson: This week was unlike any other. I wasn't going to post this picture but I believe this is the craziest thing that will hopefully ever happen to Jackson in his lifetime and needed to be recorded. He had baseball on Thursday evening and afterwards headed to the lake to go for a swim with a couple of friends. There is nothing unusual about this even though I personally think the water is WAY TO COLD still but he and his friends go several times a week so no big deal. Anyway, he pulled up where he always does but isn't 100% sure he put his car in park. Here is why the story takes an ugly turn. He had popped his trunk to grab a towel and his car started moving. He tried to hold on but it was obviously too much to hold on to. He ran to the side and considered trying to jump into the drivers seat but fortunately decided to let it go. Off the cliff his car went, slammed on the shore (about 20 feet below) and jumped right into the lake where it started sinking. He made a frantic call to us on his friends cell then ran down the bank and jumped into the water. He told us the trunk was still open when the car was sinking so stuff started spilling out. He collected what he could. We arrived pretty quickly as we weren't far from the lake when he called. We couldn't believe our eyes. There was still a lot of debris in the lake including his spare from his trunk. Jackson swam around and got everything. Thankfully we had some towels in our vehicle from a previous beach trip as Jackson was shaking because he was super cold but also because i think he was in shock. We called the non emergency police line to see what we should do and they said to call a tow because no one was hurt and there was no foul play involved. It was now pouring rain. We called the local tow truck company and they said they would be awhile so we chose to drive Jackson home so he could shower and warm up. Then we drove back to the lake to meet the tow company and figure out what to do. It was dark when we got back to the lake and the headlights on the car had gone out but we still were ale to give the tow guys a rough idea of where the car was.  They said we needed to hire divers to float the car and bring it around to the dock for the tow truck to be able to take it away. Neil met the divers the next morning. Fortunately no amount of gas or oil had leaked from the car and they were able to get it out of the lake less than 12 hours after it had happened. I played the 'what if' game in my head that whole evening. So many factors could have changed the outcome entirely. It was scary but Jackson is safe and no one else was hurt other than his car, his phone and his good headphones. I don't think he will ever not make sure his car is in park and the emergency break is on ever ever again.  And he has a very good story to tell his kids in the future. 

Lily: She was playing with her hair and put on some makeup so I asked her to put on a new dress and earrings for me so I could take some photos with my new camera. I've said it before but I'm so glad she will play for me for my lens. 

As ever, joining in with beautiful Donna and others for another week of Living Arrows.