{"id":3126,"date":"2003-11-07T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2003-11-07T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/lend-a-hand\/"},"modified":"2021-06-29T15:04:29","modified_gmt":"2021-06-29T15:04:29","slug":"lend-a-hand","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/lend-a-hand\/","title":{"rendered":"Lend A Hand"},"content":{"rendered":"

Captain Linus took the first and only wave in stride. It crashed over the bow and drenched him to the bone as we cut through the break. He held fast to the black handle that we use to carry the kayak and said nothing.<\/p>\n

Beyond the surf, the sea squatted on the sand below, rhythmically rocking back and forth, still dark from the suspended particles stirred up by yesterday\u2019s storm.<\/p>\n

We stroked far off shore, turned and put the paddles to rest, set ourselves adrift for a gentle ride home, propelled by a lazy ocean.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go swimming,\u201d Linus exclaimed.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo ahead,\u201d I answered.<\/p>\n

I could tell that he tempered his playful desire with a tinge of uncertainty.<\/p>\n

\u201cAre there sharks down there?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, son.\u201d I stared into his demanding eyes. \u201cSharks don\u2019t like to eat people. It\u2019s okay. You can go.\u201d<\/p>\n

He glanced back and forth from the water to me. I met his gaze evenly.<\/p>\n

\u201cSharks can eat people,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, they can,\u201d I responded. \u201cBut they don\u2019t like to\u2014they like fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fascinated, I watched his budding, 4 year-old mind whirl.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle fish?\u201d he questioned.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd big fish, too, sometimes,\u201d I re-affirmed. \u201cThey like to eat fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

I couldn\u2019t tell whether my words had any impact.<\/p>\n

\u201cSting rays eat people,\u201d he asserted.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, they don\u2019t. Sting rays never eat anybody. Sting rays eat seaweed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Linus wrestled with himself, adventurous spirit versus cautious soul, a tug-of-war between wonder and fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to go in, Dada,\u201d he repeated.<\/p>\n

\u201cJump,\u201d I suggested, in a soft voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are no sharks down there?\u201d he pleaded.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, son. There are sharks down there. But they won\u2019t bother you. You\u2019re not a fish.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a long while, we floated. The late afternoon sun turned crimson, sent a long streak of speckled gold straight to us across the gulf.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to swim in the sun shadow,\u201d Linus decided.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet me turn the boat for you,\u201d I replied, and spun the kayak until the rays lapped up against the shell.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow about now?\u201d I rubbed my fingers through his hair.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeep it right here, Dad,\u201d Linus decreed, very intent.<\/p>\n

I smiled at him and shook my head up and down.<\/p>\n

He began to climb off and then stopped, unsure.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can do it,\u201d I assured him. \u201cIt\u2019s okay,\u201d I said once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want you to hold my hand, Dad,\u201d he requested.<\/p>\n

\u201cSure.\u201d I took his small hand in mine. \u201cI\u2019ve got you.\u201d<\/p>\n

He creased his lips in a show of timid bravery, gripped tightly and lowered himself into the dark.<\/p>\n

Immediately, he grinned. I could see him kicking like a swan under the surface. He made it.<\/p>\n

My son, as he so often does, reminded me of a valuable lesson.<\/p>\n

Sometimes, to confront our fears, we can all use some encouragement and a helping hand.<\/p>\n

What about you?<\/p>\n

Who might you reach out to today?<\/p>\n

Whose hand might you accept?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s A View From The Ridge\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ridgely Goldsborough<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A teacher turned student learns a powerful lesson from his four year-old son.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,9,12,11],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[1050],"class_list":["post-3126","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-children-youth","category-mental-health-emotional-issues","category-spirituality-religion-beliefs","category-wellness"],"authors":[{"term_id":1050,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"ridgely-goldsborough","display_name":"Ridgely Goldsborough","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","1":"","2":"","3":"","4":"","5":"","6":"","7":"","8":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3126"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5112,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3126\/revisions\/5112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3126"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3126"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3126"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/care-givers.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=3126"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}