Hands

Yesterday I helped save a stranger. I live in a summer beach community. Every day I go to the beach and walk in the surf. I do it for two reasons: nothing clears the mind like walking through the incoming waves and it's good strenuous exercise.

As I was walking I noticed a man who looked to be in his 70's or 80's stepping gingerly into the water. His daughter, a middle-aged lady, was standing on the beach about 10 yards behind him watching him.

The waves were pretty robust. A surfer friend of mine describes these type of waves as "fat". They were between 5 and 8 feet high and when they crashed on the beach you could hear the "boom" of their arrival.

As I neared the man I could see and sense his nervousness at entering the water. Sometimes you can just tell from the look on a face.

I got the feeling that he wasn't too anxious to jump into the water but don't we all go through those moments of doubt and nervousness.

When I was about 10 feet from the gentleman I saw him move forward till he was waist-deep in the surf. He looked like he was doing just fine. Then he did the one thing you shouldn't do when the waves are "fat" and you're unsure about your abilities to handle them.

As a big wave started rolling in the man suddenly turned his back to the wave to look at his daughter on the beach. Wrong move. Don't turn your back to an act of nature that can sweep you away in a second.

The wave smacked right into the back of the man and knocked him flat. I thought he was going to pick himself up but as the wave washed over him there was no sign of the man. He was under the water and nowhere to be seen.

As the water receded I suddenly saw him. He was on his hands and knees and flailing in the water. I realized he wasn't able to get to his feet -- and another "fat" wave was rolling in ready to plow into him.

I glanced at his daughter and she had a panicked look on her face. I dived in and reached for the man. Thrusting my hand out he reached up and grabbed it. At that moment, and even though no one words passed between us, I knew he was thinking to himself, "Please help me up and don't let me go."

I hauled him to his feet and he looked at me with thanks in his eyes. Thinking he was OK and able to get out of the water by himself I let go of his hand and was about to tell him to be careful when a new wave rushed in and knocked him down again. Once again he was floundering and struggling. Once again I reached down, grasped his hand, and pulled him upright and out of the water.

Standing again, the man thanked me, his daughter thanked me, and together they walked up onto the safe sand.

I walked on through the surf and thought about what had just happened and how it related to what had happened in my life.

When I was going through a tough time, 26 years ago, a group of people reached out their hands to me to help me stand on my feet again. Then as I would go through periods of wobbling and struggling those hands kept me upright until I could regain my emotional and spiritual balance and was able to go forward.

Since that day I have learned that the best way for me to stay on my own feet is to help someone else stand on theirs. We never know when that moment might come but when it does be ready to dive in and reach out a helping hand.