From Math Teacher to Mystic

Chapter 1 Pool Premonition The three boys entered the pool area that sunny fall afternoon, followed closely by their mother carrying towels, a magazine, and some pool toys. The mother made her way to a lounge chair in the corner by the deep end. The two older boys went to the concrete rim edge of the middle of the pool and jumped in. One of them yelled to the youngest boy, who appeared to be about three years old, “Juan, you need to stay on the steps! You can’t swim!” Little Juan was already calf deep while playing on the steps of the pool. He joyfully swung on the chrome bar along those steps in the shallow end. He seemed content to play by himself while the two older boys splashed each other in the middle of the pool. I had looked up from the book I was reading on the opposite side of the pool to witness their entrance. At times, children would come to the pool area without an adult to supervise them, so I was glad to see the mother had accompanied the boys. Yet I glared disapprovingly when she situated herself with the pool out of her line of sight. Having heard that the little tyke did not know how to swim, I instinctively worried. The thought he could drown if he went off the steps floated in the back of my mind. I glanced up to see the two boys playing in the five-foot deep part of the pool and the little guy on the steps. I returned to reading my book. Every so often, I looked up from my book to make sure Juan was still on the steps. I confirmed the mom reading, two boys splashing around, and three-year-old on the chrome bar on the steps before resuming my reading. Then came the time when I looked up and Juan was not at the steps. My stomach fell! I quickly scanned the pool. There he was, sinking underwater near me with his arms outstretched. He went down underwater. He came up thrashing. Twice under and up before down he went a third time. I landed on my belly with most of my torso over the edge of the pool. I reached in and pulled him out, which woke me up. I was on my bedroom floor! I had thrown the blankets off me and dove to the floor to rescue Juan from the pool. Shocked to be awake, I shook my head and chuckled. Wow, what a powerful dream, I thought. I hardly ever remembered my dreams and immediately wanted to share this one because it was so funny that I landed on the floor and woke up. First, I told my daughters, who laughed. Later that morning, I recounted my dream to a class of continuation high school students during our personal development session. My students laughed at the image of me diving out of bed from a dream. Six weeks later while reading in a lounge chair at the pool in my townhome complex, a couple of young kids entered. They held the gate open for their mom and younger brother, Juan. As their mom settled herself in a lounge chair in the corner, they jumped into the pool. “Juan, you need to stay on the steps!” they yelled at the little three-year-old. I glanced up from my book, noting Juan on the steps of the shallow end on the other side of the pool. The two older boys were already splashing and playing in the middle of the shallow end. I turned back to reading my book. The boys were loud, which distracted me. Again, I looked up over the pool to see Juan sliding on the chrome bar that was in the middle of the steps into the shallow end. The fun he was having was unnoticed by his mother, who was lying on her stomach and facing away from the boys while reading a magazine. I was a bit perturbed at the noise and inattentive mother. The boys made their way farther toward the deep end in about five feet of water, diving, splashing, and playing. My lounge chair faced the sun. I noticed how good it felt on my skin and returned to reading, with the yelling in the background. A few minutes later, I looked up from my book and noticed Juan was not on the steps. I scanned the shallow end of the pool, the deep end, and then I saw him! He was on my side of the pool, going underwater in front of me. He came up, arms flailing, only to go under again. Momentarily, he was up again before submerging again. Only the sound of the other boys playing was heard. Juan’s panicked face etched itself in my mind. He was unable to yell for help. I threw my book, leaped out of my lounge chair, and dove onto my belly on the cement rim edge of the pool, with my upper body over the water. Juan went under for the third time, his arm outstretched. My hand caught his wrist. I pulled him to the edge and yanked him out of the water. I placed him on his side as he coughed, barfing up water. Greg, a neighbor who was seated behind me at the shallow end corner, came over to assist. Thankfully, Juan started crying. Greg said emphatically, “Oh my god, you were like a cat leaping out of the chair to rescue this kid! I saw him going under but was stuck frozen in my chair. You were so graceful. It was like you knew exactly what to do.” By then, Juan’s mother had come over. She began yelling at me aggressively. “What did you do to my kid?” She had not seen what happened and thought I had hurt her child, causing him to cry. Greg yelled back at her, “This woman just saved your child from drowning!”