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Straight From the Heart
http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com
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It gives me great pleasure, once again, to introduce someone who has been a tremendous influence not only on my life, but also in the life of my beautiful bride Kristi.  Today's story is written by a man who has been, and always will be my role model in life.  I hope someday to be remembered as someone who has only half the character, integrity, and compassion that Bill Greer is known for.  Thank you, Mr. Greer for being a part of our lives......

I would take it as a great personal favor if you wrote to him after you read the following story.  And while you're at it, wish him a happy 50th birthday, which he celebrated a week or so ago....
Thanks!
Michael
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By Bill Greer

For several years now it has been our tradition to spend the Memorial
Day weekend visiting my parents at their cottage on Wheeler Lake
near Lakewood, Wisconsin.

In 1998, my wife Sally and I invited our daughter Pam and her husband
Tate and our two beautiful grandchildren Paige (three years old at the time)
and Anthony (one year old) to go along.  It was a beautiful weekend of
sun and nice weather on a pretty lake in "God's country". 

One of the rituals we have when up at the cottage is to take a slow leisurely
cruise around the lake on my parents' pontoon boat and enjoy the snacks
and sodas Mom brings along.  We make our way around the lake looking
for eagles and loons and seeing what the rest of the vacationers are up to.
 
On this particular day we took our granddaughter Paige with us while her
father stayed and fished off the dock and her mother stayed in the cabin
while Anthony took his nap.  We were into our usual routine and enjoying
the lake except that Paige kept looking over the front of the pontoon boat
at the water passing underneath which is a very dangerous position.
Mom kept asking her to get back from the railing, but being a typical
inquisitive 3 year old she paid no attention.  I was in the front chair so
I held onto her jacket hood so we wouldn't have an accident.  Mom finally
used a stern voice and Paige came back to the seats and started eating
snacks.  I swivelled my chair around and started to enjoy some of the
goodies myself. Paige took her jacket off and ate a little more. Being an
active little girl this wasn't about to last though.  She darted back past me
to the front of the boat  as a jet ski zoomed by in front of us.  Paige got to
the front railing just as the wake from the jet ski hit us.  This caused her to
lose her balance and to the terror of all of us on board she fell over the front
of the boat and went underneath.  I dove to the railing to try and catch her
but was too late.  Sally immediately went over the side of the boat and into
the water.  As I got up from the front deck and ran to the back of the boat I
saw that Paige's forehead was split open from one side of the hairline to
the other and blood was rushing out and being washed away by the water. 
She had hit the propeller and was floating, lifeless, behind the boat.  Sally
got to her just as I was jumping from the deck over the back seat and motor
into the water (Dad said he never saw anyone that fat jump so far).  Sally and
I are both former lifeguards, which helped, but unfortunately we were also
wearing clothing fit for late spring in northern Wisconsin. Sally was holding
Paige up when I finally got to them, but she had on a t-shirt, sweater, jacket
and blue jeans which was making it very difficult to keep herself above water,
much less support Paige's limp body.  I took over for Sally and she was able
to swim back to the pontoon boat.  I started pulling Paige back toward the boat,
but since I had on almost as much clothing as Sally did I wasn't getting
anywhere fast.  I started to scream for my Dad to back the boat up, but he
was afraid that with the high back seat he wouldn't be able to see us and
might hit both of us with the motor.  I yelled to throw us a lifejacket or floatation
cushion, but we were too far away and it fell far short.  It was pretty obvious
that we weren't going to make it under my power, coupled with the fact that
Mom hadn't seen Sally swim back to the side of the boat and was yelling
"where's Sally", a bit of panic was setting in.  I just kept saying "please
God, please God, please God".  All of a sudden a fishing boat appeared
behind us.  He had seen the accident and was using his trolling motor to get
over to us. Unfortunately, he over shot.  He had gone 10 to 15 feet past us. 
I was about done in by this time so I hollered to throw us something so that
I could at least put it under Paige so she would stay afloat if I sank.  A young
boy in the boat threw us a lifejacket which I slipped under Paige while the
boat was backing up.  I was literally swimming in Paige's blood at this time. 
As the boat got closer I gave Paige and the lifejacket one last shove to the
boat as well as kicking with all I had left and all the while saying "please
God".  I was scared that Paige was no longer alive.  She hadn't even twitched
since we got to her and had lost a lot of blood from the cut to her head. That
last shove and kick got her close enough to the fishing boat that one of the
men in it reached over and picked her up.  The minute he did Paige began
to cry!  Sweeter music was never heard.  She was alive! I was totally
exhausted and knowing she was alive seemed to relax me or something,
but I was about to do a "Leonardo from TITANIC" act and sink to the
bottom when a hand grabbed my wrist.  Dad was about to jump in off the
pontoon boat, but the fisherman (Lyle Werey) yelled that "we have him". 
Dad is not a strong swimmer so not only did Lyle save my life, he
probably saved Dad's.   The fishing boat handed Paige off to another
nearby boat which took her to Dad on the pontoon boat, while the first
boat tried to haul me out of the water. Some people on shore called to
Dad to put in at their cabin and he did.  They took Paige inside and helped
her while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.  It just so happens that the
daughter of the people whose cabin they took her to was a nurse in the
trauma center in a Green Bay hospital and had a cottage on the other side
of the lake.  Her son had seen the accident and immediately gone to get
her.  She helped Paige until the paramedics arrived. 

 

Meanwhile, I had gone into shock.  They rolled me out of the boat onto the
dock and Dad and someone else helped me into the house.  I don't
remember anything about the inside of the house except that I was covered in
a blanket and now only had my underwear on.  They had taken off all the
cold wet clothes in an effort to get me warm.  Paige and I were then off in
separate ambulances to the Oconto Falls hospital.  The only thing I
remember about the ambulance ride (about 45 minutes) was saying
"please God, let her be okay" and the EMT telling me that my
temperature was UP to 93 degrees.  When I arrived at the hospital
Paige was already there and was being taken care of.  She would need
emergency surgery and was put on the "med-flight" to Children's Hospital in
Madison.  I finally got warmed up and the doctors cleared me to leave in
time to see the helicopter take off.  We jumped in our car and headed to
Madison.  Paige was out of surgery when we got there.  We did a lot of
praying.  When the doctors spoke to Pam they told her that there was no
brain damage, only a nick to the membrane, and that by the time she was
16 the scar on her forehead might not even be there.  Two days later Paige
was tearing down the hall on a tricycle with our other daughter Jennifer
trailing behind her with the I.V. stand.  She was going to make it!

There were some scars left on the older folks though. Mom and Dad didn't
go on the pontoon boat again the entire summer until Sally and I went up
on Labor Day weekend.  I personally get a queasy feeling when I see
someone leaning against the side of a boat unless they are fishing. 

Today, Paige is in kindergarten at Clinton Elementary School which is
right across the street from my classroom in the middle school.  Every
day at 3:00 there is a knock on my outside door (my room is a relocatable
classroom) and there is Paige and her mommy.  Grandpa gets a kiss and
a hug before they go home.  What a great way to end the school day!

There are several things that need to be pointed out in this story.

Number one:  When Paige fell overboard she was not wearing a life jacket. 
If she had been wearing one it might have kept her up into the propeller
instead of being knocked down by it. 

 

Two: Dad almost always stands up to drive the pontoon boat when we are
taking our afternoon cruise.  This time he was seated with his hand on
the throttle.  When he saw Paige go over the rail he immediately shifted
to neutral so when she was hit by the prop it was no longer in gear, it was
the force of the water turning it that got her.  Had he not done this it could
have resulted in brain damage or even death instead of just a nick to the
membrane. 

 

Three: Paige was knocked unconscious and floated instead of going down
in the water.  That enabled us to get to her right away.

 

Four:  The water was quite cold and this helped to keep the flow of blood
down. 

 

Five:  The doctor's biggest worry was infection from the bacteria in the water. 
The people that owned the cabin they took us to had had the water tested
two weeks earlier and it was so clean and free of bacteria that it was almost
drinkable. 

 

Six:  Sally and I were both former lifeguards and knew what to do in the water. 

 

Seven: the presence of a trauma nurse to care for Paige until EMTs arrived. 
And last, but not least, I will never be convinced that it was a coincidence
that it was a fisherman that rescued us. 

God pleased to help us and gave us our precious granddaughter back!

 

Bill Greer
bgreer4182@yahoo.com

 

Send Bill an email and let him know what you thought of his story!

 

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Bill Greer and his wonderful wife Sally reside in Wisconsin. He is a history
teacher at Clinton Middle School, and coaches football, girl's basketball, and
track at Clinton High School.  He was inducted into the Wisconsin Cross Country
Hall of Fame and has over 400 wins as a basketball coach.  He has taught many life lessons that those of us who were fortunate enough to have him in our lives, will remember forever....

For those of you who would like to take a glimpse into the influence that he has had on those students and athletes in Clinton, WI, take a look at the following stories:

18 Years Late
http://www.storiesfrommyheart.com/072100.htm

Heroes Among Us
http://themestream.com/gspd_browse/browse/view_article.gsp?c_id=113859

And there are more that haven't been written yet!

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REQUESTS:

From: Linda.Goller@atlanticare.org (Linda Goller)
To: Thunder27@aol.com

I am asking for prayer for a co-worker named Sharon she has just been diagnoses with lung cancer which has already spread to her lymph glands.  Also for her husband John and her son Jack who is about 12.  May the Lord give this family strength during this most trying time.  I ask for you all to pray for healing as we know that thru Him this is possible.  Also for the Dr. and other medical professionals that intercede in her care.  May the Glory go to Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.      Linda

**************

 From: SHILO HOMES INC@aol.com
 
 Hi,
 If it would be OK I would like to ask for pray for my family and for our daughter Amy.
 She is a good kid, but her dad has decided he wants a divorce and of course she is a terrible daddy's girl and he has no boundaries with her.  The roles are kind of reversed: she is the parent and he is the child.
 In Jan. I was very sick and he gave guardianship to his brother and now I want it moved back to us because she is living with her dad.  There is to be a hearing on Friday Oct. 6 at 11:00am.  Please pray. Satan has a mighty hold on my husband and I have lots of people praying. Please help and pray for my family.  John just wants to be Amy's friend and not her dad and I have to pray for hedges each day for her.  Also pray for our older daughter as this is very hard on her.  John thinks this doesn't involve our kids.  HE is out of touch with the real world. Pray that Satan will move on and that we can use this for God's Glory.
 Praise God for this service in which to communicate.
 Linda
 Liberty MO
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Thought For The Day:

"Pennies do not come from heaven - they have to be earned here on earth."
(Margaret Thatcher)

 

Verse for the Day:

"From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him."
Proverbs 12:14

 

Kid's Thought For The Day:

"If it's in your way, climb over it."

 

Parent's Thought For The Day

"There are three ways to get something done: do it yourself, hire someone, or forbid your kids to do it."

(Monta Crane)

 

Coach's Thought For The Day

"History has demonstrated many times that WILL is the magic word that turns a pumpkin into a golden coach."

 

Deep Thought For The Day:

"Whenever I hear Pavlov's name, it rings a bell."

  _
/_/\/\    MICHAEL T. POWERS
\_\  /    THUNDER27@aol.com  
/_/  \    "For I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but
\_\/\ \   Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body I live for the Son
   \_\/   of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."  Galatians 2:20 

Video Imagery (Michael's Video Production Business.)

"I thought of you first after my family sat down to watch the video we gave them. They loved it, to say the least!  Within thirty seconds my mom was crying and my dad did too.  They said it was the best Christmas gift we could have given them!!  You did such a beautiful job!  They were so surprised and so touched---they really, really, really loved it.  Thanks for helping to make it so special to us all.  My mom mentioned how the songs were perfect for the video too!  Thanks again!"
        
Kelli  (RKaGe@aol.com)    College Station, TX

Let me make you a video from your pictures or home movies!
Check out the web page for Michael's video production business!
 Video Imagery
http://members.aol.com/Videoimg/index.html

Do you feel as if life has no meaning for you?
 The Four Spiritual Laws
http://www.ccci.org/laws/index.html

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Thanks!

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