I learned about obedience and trust in the backyard pool.

It was a scalding hot summer day in Port Washington the day I returned from England. I was very anxious to go and see my best friend J.C. When I arrived at his house his room was freezing cold; he had the air-conditioning blasting. It felt very good since in England my soccer team and I had no fan or A.C. in our rooms. After eating a gigantic lunch, which I had not had in two full weeks, (the food in England is terrible-don’t go to England) we decided to go into the pool to cool off. It had been two weeks since I was able to do what I desired. It felt amazing to be freed from the hands of my two soccer coaches who had us on lockdown for the entire trip in Britain. When I jumped in the pool all I could see were his eyes shifting toward the top of the oak tree that hovers the pool. I knew exactly what he was thinking and I asked him, "Are your parents home."

He replied, "Nope they will be gone for a couple hours."

I was ecstatic; we had the house to ourselves. The week before I left for England J.C. and I found a way to climb this tree and jump into the shallow end of the pool. Our parents had found out that we were jumping off this tree and they threatened us to cut the huge beautiful tree down if we continued. As usual, like the mischievous children that we are we did not listen to them and we listened to our own instincts and continued to jump off the tree, until J.C. had to spend an entire summer in a full body cast. It was not until that day that I truly trusted or obeyed my parents to a full extent. However, from that moment on my perspective about my parents’ feelings about protecting my friends and me were forever changed for the better. I have finally realized that my parents and other mothers and fathers are only looking to protect their children. They are our parents who will guide us in the proper direction and protect us whenever some conflict arises in our lives.

"Crrrrrrrrrrrrrrkkk"

That was all I could hear when I just emerged from the bottom of the pool. When I looked over to see where that noise came from all I could see was a pool beginning to fill up with blood. I didn’t say anything at all for a second; his life flashed before my eyes. The only words that went through my mind were, oh my God what has just happened."

Being the adventurous children that we still are; we are always looking for an adventure, even if it could endanger our lives or someone else’s. At times we just lived for the moment even without thinking about the repercussions. The two of us were not really scared of anything and would step up to pretty much any challenge that someone laid out for us. As children we felt the need to disobey our parents. It was late spring in 2000 when we had found a tree that covered the shallow end of his pool. I asked J.C. "Is there anyway to climb the tree and jump into the pool."

Once again a challenge was set in front of us this time by ourselves.

"You know what; it’s worth a try," he replied.

So for that entire afternoon we were searching for ways to climb this tree. At first we thought we could throw a rope on the bottom and pull our way up. However, the rope failed quickly when it snapped while I was trying to put all my body weight onto it. We went far enough to taking pictures of all angles of the tree to try to find someway to climb it. For some odd reason, J.C. thought that we should jump on top of his picket fence that divided his home from the neighbors.

"Great thinking," I thought.

Eventually that fence was the original boost we needed to get hold of the first tree branch. From that point on it was all about weaving our bodies’ through the strong green vines that squeezed the life out of the trees. When we finally reached our destination to the top of this oak tree we were exhausted from swinging form vine to vine and crawling under hundreds of branches. We cleared the leaves from our faces. We were so high that we could see over his house, which stood 30 feet tall. I have to admit I was a little bit timid about jumping. Blood rushed through my arms and chest while my veins were bulging out of my arms. My legs were shaking from fatigue and from being terrified. I asked myself, "Should I even attempt to do this."

I guess it was my bad conscience that answered back saying yes jump. If you don’t you’re a "wuss." So I stepped out and looked down and closed my eyes and finally jumped off the ledge. It seemed as if it took an hour for me to hit the glassy blue water. Once I landed I thanked God for his help through this jump. I never asked J.C. what he felt but I guess the same things were going through his mind. As I pushed off the bottom of the shallow end I reached to the surface for some air since the impact knocked it all out of my boy. I was ALIVE. I moved out of the way and now it was his turn. When he landed I was so relieved but just as happy that we conquered our goal. For the next week we continued to jump and we showed our friends as well. It became the town jump as 20 of our friends attempted and successfully landed the ever so scary leap into the Hall’s pool.

The sun was so bright and strong that I got burned in the car coming home from the airport. Immediately after I walked outside the airport my eyes began to squint. I was sweating profusely because I was dressed in pants and a sweater. It was bitter cold in England, even during the summer. On my ride home from JFK airport I shared my experiences of being in another country with my mother. Although I hate English people I still was able to have a very fun time with my soccer team. Upon arriving home I instantaneously dropped my bag off and changed clothes. After HAVING to spend sometime with my parents I quickly called my best friend J.C. The bright yellow sun was glistening off the crystal clear pool water.

I said, "Let's go climbing."

"We have to try some new jumps," he said.

"It’s about time we tried something new."

After taking two minutes to climb the colossal oak tree, which was overwhelmed with vines I asked him, "Do you want to try a flip."

We were both a little frightened to try it at first, but then he built up the courage inside of him to take the initiative to jump first. Right after he hit the clear water ripples started to fill the whole pull up. When he popped up from the shallow end of the pool he screamed, "That was such a rush, it was amazing."

Right away I knew I was in for something great.

He told me, "Don't worry at all just clear the branch and the ledge of the pool and you will be fine."

At this time I was praying to God to just let me live through this leap. During the jump it felt as if I was in the air for 5 minutes until I smacked the crystal blue water. After successfully completing jump after jump we went inside for some refreshments. After cooling off, it was time to resume jumping. The tree was getting wet from constantly climbing it after just getting out of the water. The jump right before the fatal accident kind of showed us that something bad might happen if we continue to do this. Just as I was grabbing onto another vine I slipped and fell, very luckily I was able to grab on to the branch and J.C.’s leg. That took a lot out of me. I thought I was definitely going to break my legs if I hit the ground. My summer flashed before me; I believed I would never surf that summer if I had broken my legs. So it seemed as if someone was talking to us warning us if we jump again something fatal might happen. This really scared me, but I regained my composure and landed the jump perfectly.

"That was so scary," I said.

"I really thought you were going to hit the ground."

There is something about me that didn’t allow me to stop going up in the tree and jumping. I felt if I did not jump again I would be defeated by the tree. So the two of us climbed up the now very slippery oak tree to prepare to make the final jump of this beautiful and most perfect day. As we were sitting on the branch talking about what to do when we heard my mom’s car pull in. We panicked and were scared that we were going to get grounded.

I told him, "Let’s just go down and face the fact that we might get in a little trouble rather, than jumping and getting grounded."

"No, no, no, go jump, jump now man," he replied.

So I got my balance on the branch and took off into mid air. Just as I hit the water I heard screaming. I guess J.C. did not even wait for me to reach the water. He rushed not taking his time and slipped before he reached the edge of the branch and smashed his leg onto the ledge of the pool. I guess that this day was too perfect.

I shrieked to him, "Pull your leg to your chest and just hold it there until I could pick him up out of the pool."

So after hearing him shrieking in pain and cursing at the top of his lungs I eventually propped him up and pulled him out of the pool. I couldn’t image the pain that he was going through and all I could think about was how lucky he was that he was being put in a stretcher, rather than in a body bag. He was maybe 3 inches away from smashing his skull on the side of the pool from a leap of about 30 feet. Once I called the ambulance I had to sit with J.C. and try to calm him down. When they arrived they had to shift his leg totally straight. He was riving in pain when they began to straighten his leg. J.C.’s mom could not even watch she was so upset. She was not upset that we had been jumping, rather that he was suffering from such trauma. When the medics got him strapped in they sent him off to the emergency room. What I remember them telling me is that they had to rush him to the hospital to make sure none of his major veins were punctured. It was the most hectic and terrifying afternoon I have ever experienced.

The aftermath of this event was much worse than I thought it was going to be. J.C. ended up having to spend many months in a full body cast. Not only his summer did he lose, but he also missed two full years of having fun and being able to do what most teenagers do. I learned a big lesson from this atrocious accident. I wish it did not take a catastrophe to learn obedience and trust. I was an immature child two years ago who always thought I was correct. I would never even think about listening to my parents. In my head, they were complete morons; even if they were just looking out for the well being of my friends and me. Although, I still don’t completely obey them I am getting better. Trust of my parents was another edict that I came away with from this tragedy. Not only my attitude towards my parents but also my trust in their decisions changed drastically. It took me fifteen years to understand that they have always had their best intentions to protect and to care for me. Therefore, it was the big powerful oak tree and the crystal clear blue water that taught me what obedience and trust really meant.