One More

OK, just one more post about Samantha and her shark phobia and I'll stop writing about her.

It really is a phobia. She's got enough courage that she'll still go into a fresh water lake, but while she's in the lake, she's resigned to the fact that a rogue shark has found it's way into America's interior and is hungrily swimming beneath her. She really does pull her feet up when a shark is on TV and she scans the pool before she jumps in.

So let me tell you what her dad made her do. We were in Puerto Vallarta for spring break and I convinced her to go snorkeling with me. I told her about the shark statisics and the rarity of attacks and that it's more likely she'd be struck by lightning. She said it wasn't just about the sharks but the fact that ocean was filled with all sorts of spooky creatures.

But she did it anyway. She put on the fins and the mask and went into the water with me and her brothers. The whole time she knew that monstrous creatures were beneath her wishing to do her harm. So although she'd go into the ocean she wasn't going to put her face in the water and watch them come after her. I convinced her that she was missing the whole point of snorkeling and that it was a beautiful world beneath the water. "Just one quick peak", I said. So she gathered a little more courage and lowered her face into the ocean.

Right into a jelly fish.

That stung her in the forehead.

Two years later, I still apologize.