One thing that hardly anyone warns you about when you have kids is how much time you will spend worrying about them. From the moment they enter the world until, well, as long as you are alive, you worry — about everything.
This is what Sound Effect contributor, Tim Haywood, talks about in this story. His youngest daughter is now a freshman in college. He knows she is independent and capable, yet, ridiculous thoughts still keep him up into the early morning hours.
“Does she have enough toothpaste? Does she have enough Brita filters? Because if one Brita filter expires, who knows what’s going to happen,” Haywood said, with a chuckle.
With his youngest child now out of the house, Haywood is thinking back to his days a freshman, and one experience in particular that tested his ability to withstand a traumatic event.
Haywood went to the University of Washington. In the winter of 1982, Haywood and a friend headed up to Snoqualmie Pass to try skiing for the first time.
They did not make it to the pass that day. In his story, Haywood recounts a tragedy, his own brush with death, and his ability to survive the emotional weight of something he never imagined he could deal with. All of this leads him to beleive that his fresman daughter will be just fine, even if she runs out of toothpaste.