Ode to Ang

Me, Lesley, and Ang circa 1998-ish. Carlsbad, CA

Who is this Angelique who's letting Emily and three small (but powerfully hyper) boys stay at her house you ask? (What, you didn't ask? Tough!)

Allow me to introduce her with an incident that took place a few days ago.

(If this starts to sound a little like a love letter at the end, that's 'cause it is one.)

(This is the "C" family a year and a half ago when we met them at D-world.)

The kids had just gotten into the pool. Claire (almost 3) and Curtis (4) are both proficient swimmers. Max is getting there, and Sam was wearing a life jacket.

I was outside watching them, but then went in to get something. Only a minute later, Ang started heading out the back door and I was just a step behind her. All of the sudden, I hear "CLAIRE, OH MY GOSH...!" and watch as Ang does a perfect swan dive, fully clothed, into the pool. Just before she goes in, I see the top of Claire's head over her shoulder, but I can't see anything wrong.

Ang saw Claire drowning. Her forehead was above water, but her mouth and nose were under and she wasn't able to get up. Luckily, Ang had her out of the water in about 3.5 seconds.

Evidently, Claire was chasing a noodle and ended up in the deep end of the pool. I don't know if she got tired, or just started to panic when she couldn't reach it, but when Ang saw her, she was grasping the pool-vacuum tube trying to pull herself up, kicking and panicking. Unfortunately, the tube barely has enough buoyancy to keep itself afloat so it wasn't helping.

Not only did Ang save her daughters life, she did it with perfect grace and agility.

This is a good introduction to my best friend. She's pretty much just a better version of me. Let's put it this way, she's a brand spankin new I-Mac and I'm a 5-year-old Dell Inspiron 6000 that breaks down CONSTANTLY and always needs tech support from India! (Not that I would know anything about a piece of crap 5-year-old Inspiron 6000 that is constantly getting the Blue Screen of Death and has to have its whole system rebooted on a regular basis!!!!!!!)

She's more spiritual, more practical, more educated, much more thrifty, more patient with her kids, and WAY more athletic, graceful, and coordinated. Not only that, she doesn't boss! (Now don't start getting a complex all you P.C.'s out there! You're good enough and smart enough, and a few people even like you too!)

When we're together, people ask us if we're sister's (or twins) all the time. She says "No, we're step-twins." and walks off leaving them looking baffled. I wish we were related, but I'll take what I can get! P.C.'s can't be too picky, ya know.

Tomorrow...the story of how we met!

P.S. Yes. I have learned my lesson. I will never, ever, ever again shirk my life-guarding duties even for one minute. Not ever ever ever. Ever. So help me.