How I almost died almost in Canada

Because we are so weird, on our family vacation in 2000, we went to Canada on the fourth of July. It just ended up that way. We really didn’t have any plan or any idea of what to do in Canada, but since we were right there, we thought we should cross the border to say we were there. Everything pretty much looked the same, so after driving a few miles, we turned around and went back to the American Sault Ste Marie.

We visited the Locks, because that is the obligatory thing to do. Actually we all thought they were pretty interesting. These huge iron ore freighters being raised so many feet by the water beneath was amazing.

Somewhere along the line we found out that the city’s Fourth of July parade would be traipsing right past our hotel, so we returned to our night’s lodging in plenty of time. The hotel was on quite a steep sloop above the street. Himey and I wanted to watch from outside our room, and the kids seemed to be ok with that. Then every time a float or other vehicle passed by from which candy was being flung, we coaxed Val and Nick into getting some and bringing it back up to us. I think Nick only fell for it once. Val, however, threw her little body down that hill and dragged herself back up countless times.

Bedtime came and everyone was ready for it, even though the kids were candied up.

From the upper respiratory infection I was suffering, I was still coughing like a maniac, and sometime in the night I reached for a cough drop in an attempt to abate the misery. Bad idea.

I was coughing so hard that I aspirated that cough drop into my throat and choked on it. I couldn’t cough, I couldn’t breathe. In the dark hotel room, I started seeing spots in front of my eyes. I didn’t panic, but I was worried about what my husband would do when he found my limp body in the bed next to him. I have always been in love with Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, but I sure never planned on dying there.

Just before I was about to pass out, the cough drop had dissolved enough that air started to move into my lungs. I watched HImey’s even breathing for a few minutes. Oh, what we take for granted. I laid down and slept til sunrise.