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| My mom at the lake several years before The Air Mattress Episode. 1964 |
The Air Mattress Episode.
On a 4th of July about 45 years ago our immediate family and
all four grandparents & other relatives went to enjoy the holiday with a
picnic lunch and swimming. It was a very hot day. We went to Pleasant Lake at
Annandale. We took sand toys and air mattresses for the kids to float on. The
adults were visiting & watching the kids. Kim was on one of the air
mattresses when all of a sudden we saw the waves had taken Kim out farther than
she should have been. It was too deep for anyone to walk out to her. Luckily we
were close to Grandpa Burandt's cousin's lake home. He quickly got his boat.
Grandpa Larry went with him. Somehow they attached a rope to mattress & got
her back to shore safely & without scaring her too much. We were afraid she
would get excited & fall of the mattress. Oh such excitement! There was
someone watching over us for sure.
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| She would have been closer to this age. This is my mom and my Aunt Kristi. |
This is her peanut adventure.
Kim had turned two years old a short time before this
happened. It was a Sunday evening and we went to visit Grandpa & Grandma
Karels, like we did quite often. We were sitting in the living room visiting.
Bruce and Kim were playing. Grandma K. had some Christmas goodies & nuts
that she set out on the coffeetable. We were all snacking, Bruce & Kim
started running around & the next thing Kim started coughing & choking.
We tried to help her but couldn't. We called Dr. Smyth in Lester Prairie &
he was not available. We called emergency in Glencoe hospital & told us to
bring her there. As soon as we arrived there the nurse & Dr. took her &
after a bit they told us they couldn't get out what they thought was peanuts.
The Dr. actually made it worse. He told us it was not a big hurry but she would
need to go to St. Mary's hospital in Minneapolis. We drove back to Lester
Prairie & called the mortician because he used his hearse as an ambulance
for emergencies. He would put a red light on top. We were on the way to
Minneapolis going down Hwy. 7 and got to about Excelsior when Kim started
gasping & choking so of course I got excited, I was holding her. I told him
to drive faster. After about a mile he stopped the vehicle because he had
forgotten to put the red light on top of it. Then the vehicle didn't want to
start. He did get it started &
from then on it got worse. Kim stopped & started breathing several times. When
we got to the hospital the staff grabbed her & told us they would be taking
her right to surgery because it was just a matter of time before we would have
lost her. They were able to get the pieces of peanuts out & she was as happy
as a lark. She had to stay overnight and we weren't allowed to stay with her.
Her lung had started to collapse & they said that she could have problems
in the future with pneumonia but fortunately she didn't.
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| This would have been right around the time of The Peanut Adventure. This is my Mom and my Uncle Bruce with their stockings. |
The nurses were nuns and wore long dresses so when we went
back the next day to get her they told us that Kim would follow them & try
to step on their dresses. Kim had just gotten potty trained & with staying
in the hospital they put diapers on her so that was the end of going potty. We
had to start over but that was the least of it. The moral of the story is do
not let kids eat peanuts if they are not sitting still.
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| Here are the two rascals from The Peanut Adventure, the previous Christmas. Pictured are my Uncle Bruce and my Mom. |
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