The day I almost DIED.

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This is a serious discussion, so please do not laugh. For some reason when I tell this story people seem to think it's funny. I'm not sure how my near death experience can be considered something funny. Here's how it happened... A couple years ago, both my children were very involved in sports. My daughter played softball (still does) my son played baseball (he's taken some time off). Our family was very involved at the park where they played ball. In addition to practices and games, we volunteered a lot of time there. In fact, we seemed to spend more time at the park than we did at home. That being the case, we also at a good number of meals there. We also purchased our snack foods there on a regular basis. And...our gum. On that fateful day, one of my children decided that they "needed" a pack of Big League Chew. For those of you who aren't familiar with it, Big League Chew is a pack of gum made to look somewhat like a pack of chewing tobacco. It's pink, it's shredded, it's chew (of course) and it happens to make a big glutinous mess in your mouth! Well, I hate to admit it, but it has been said of me, a time or two that I can't walk and chew gum at the same time. It may also have been said a time or two that I can't walk and talk at the same time. (yes, I have kind friends and family NOT). On this particular day, those comments proved to be true. Or, to be more accurate, I couldn't walk, talk AND chew gum at the same time! My daughter and I were walking from one field to another. We were walking along casually on a beatiful spring day, having a casual conversation about - I don't know what. Being the witty child that my daughter is, with a great sense of humor (the acorn don't fall far from the tree), she said something funny, and made me laugh. This was right after I had stuck the Big League Chew in my mouth, chewed a couple times. Just enough to create that big glutinous mess. I laughed. I guess my laughed included inhaling through my mouth. I sucked back some of that big glutinous mess and well, it seemed to seal up my throat! I couldn't breathe. I really couldn't breathe. Have you ever choked? It's a scary feeling. My world stopped. I think I did the international chocking sign(reaching for your throat). I just stopped walking and was trying to breathe. My daughter looked at me with a blank stare. I guess it was a few seconds, I don't know exactly how long, but it felt like I wasn't far away from passing out. I literally looked for my cell phone in my pocket wanting to dial 911. I was sure I was seconds away from being passed out in the middle of the field. I hoped they would get there in time. Well, my phone wasn't there! At this point I was down on my knees, still trying not to panic. I managed to gasp out to my daughter to go get help. There were plenty of people around, just not real close. So, she JOGGED over to some friends to tell them I was in trouble. They TROTTED over. I think I was able to gasp out "I need water". They gave me water. I washed down the glutinous mess and the crisis was over. Of course I had to do a little scolding about the LACK of speed everyone used. Well, obviously I survived. But for some reason whenever I tell people that I almost died because I was chewing Big League Gum. People seem to think it's funny. A few weeks ago, just out of curiousity, I googled "choking on Big League Gum". I actually got a few hits. Apparently I'm not the only person who has issues with chewing that gum.