The Pitanga Club
I
have wonderful friends here, kids just like me, couldn't choose better ones. We
are of various ages. Timmy, the youngest, is less than seven months old and
June, the oldest, is slightly more than eight. It may appear odd for such a big
girl to reach this place, but when June arrived, she was "different".
She couldn't talk and was totally apathetic and helpless. She had been that way
all her life up to then. However, soon after she joined us, June blossomed and
became talkative, active and friendly. Now all of us chat and laugh. Even little
Timmy talks and laughs, just like the rest of us. Merriment is very meaningful
to us. It distracts us from the anguish that we feel when we think of our
parents, our sisters and brothers and all our friends whom we left behind.
All
of us have a similar story. That's why we decided to establish a club. We
called it the Pitanga Club in honor of … Oh, I haven't yet told you that the favorite
member of our club is a sweet puppy whom we all adore, and therefore we decided
to call our club in her name, Pitanga. What brought Pitanga here? Usually it
doesn't happen to dogs. They are generally alert and the first to jump out when
the door opens, but it seems that Pitanga had been sleeping and when she woke
up it was too late.
Time
doesn't pass here in the way it does down there. It has a different course,
which I cannot explain. That's why I remained and shall forever remain four
years old, yet ever since I arrived here I learned a lot about the nature of
people and of everything in general. That's why Timmy will always be less than
seven years old and June will always be slightly more than eight, and all the
rest of us will forever stay at our permanent ages. Yet, just like me, all have
learned a whole lot about everything, even Pitanga has.
What
brought us here? Although each of us came from a different background, the
occasions of our arrival here are very similar, even that of Pitanga our
adorable puppy. So, let me tell my personal story, which is much alike to those
of my friends in the Pitanga Club. But first it is important for me to
emphasize that I don't bear a grudge against Dad. When the incident happened, I
suppose I was furious, actually I can't say for sure how I felt. It was so intolerable
that whenever I try to remember it my thoughts stray away in another direction.
All I know is that my agony was indescribable, so horrid was it. What I do
remember was that at first I couldn't understand how it happened that Dad
forgot me in the back seat of the car. Dad, who had loved me so much, who always
used to spoil me, who had rejoiced when he saw me every late afternoon on his
return from work. Did he suddenly stop loving me? Had I done something so
naughty that he didn't want me anymore?
Now,
when I see – yes, we can all see everything that occurs down there, not through
our eyes but in another way that I cannot explain – when I see how, every
night, both Dad and Mom weep, Dad the big, strong, brave man crying like a little
boy … When I see how both my parents hardly sleep at night and say again and
again how much they miss me, I know that Dad never stopped loving me and Mom as
well, of course. I see their grief and all I wish for them is happiness, laughter and joy as had been in our home before the incident happened.
Mom
and Dad keep going to work every morning. They have no choice, needing to provide
not only for themselves but also for my little sister and my two bigger
brothers. Actually my little sister is by now bigger than I am, since she is
nearing her fifth birthday while I am still and shall always remain four.
As
I stated above, I am not mad at my father. On the contrary, I love both Mom and
Dad and am deeply sorry that they suffer so much, both of them. I miss them so
much and it grieves me to know that we shall never meet again. I do deeply resent
that wicked woman who shrieked at my father, when he was standing on the sidewalk shaking
like a leaf, completely broken at the sight of my lifeless body being drawn out
of the car. She cursed him, called him a murderer and wished him a life
sentence in the worst possible prison. Also, I am furious at all those opinionated
fools who, without understanding the harm that they are doing, posted on the
Web such venomous things about both my
parents (yes, about my Mom too!), as though the horrible torment that they
endure is not enough. It seems that most people think that it couldn't happen to
them. My parents too used to believe that it couldn't happen to them. In the
days that I was still with them body and soul, when similar tragedies were
reported in the media, Mom and Dad were both shocked and appalled, unable to
understand how parents can forget a child in the family car. They thought such
negligence is criminal and were certain that it couldn't happen to loving,
responsible parents such as they considered themselves rightfully to be. So
they thought, until it happened to Dad.
Scientists
who specialize in brain research offer an explanation to the phenomenon. According to
them, normative, responsible parents who love their children, care for them and
take all measures to ensure their safety might, under stressing circumstances
or unexpected distractions, forget a beloved child in the car on a hot day,
remembering him or her only after Death has taken its toll. That's how our
brain works, shoving to the background crucial information when preoccupied by
new concerns. Yes, it can happen to anyone, no exceptions. So they say and I
know how right they are. I know that the parents of all my Pitanga Club friends,
even the couple who had adopted Pitanga our sweet puppy, were good folk,
loving, caring, responsible and convinced that it could not happen to them.
Alas, to their dismay and to ours, the truth proved in the cruelest way how delusive
their confidence had been.
To
claim that the parents are not guilty is not entirely correct, because they had
disregarded all recommendations intended to prevent the occurrence of such
tragedies, which appear from time to time on the Web, TV, radio and printed
media. Whenever the media reported about a child who had died after being inadvertently
left in a car, people like my parents expressed their disgust but rejected expert
evidence based on the fact that
every driver, parent or not, who takes an infant in a car is vulnerable to such
forgetfulness because of some distraction. They refused to believe it and shirked
the trouble of learning and following expert advice and safety tips that are
available on the Web (links are provided toward the end of this essay). Sure
enough, they always fasten their seatbelts before driving off, mainly because if
they fail to obey the law that demands it they are susceptible to a significant
fine. However, there is at present no law that requires parents to take heed of
tips intended to prevent boiling their beloved child to death, so why bother?
We,
members of Pitanga Club, a cheerful bunch of kids who love company, are
strongly opposed to receive newbies (kids, puppies or any other pets) because
we realize how much endless pain is involved with each new arrival. It can and
must be prevented.
Now,
to be realistic, a dead child does not suffer. The dead do not suffer because
they don't feel anything. The agony is first of all that of the beloved child
who is cooked to death in the back seat of the sweltering car, then of his parents
who are tormented for the rest of their lives. If you don't want to join those
parents, if you don't want your children to join Pitanga Club, if you wish to
continue leading a normal life that allows you to smile and laugh from time to
time, do the right thing, pay full attention to expert advice, adopt the tips
and make it a habit to use them. Do your utmost to safeguard your children from
falling prey to a catastrophic diversion of mind. Click now on http://www.kidsandcars.org/heatstroke.html
to get to a site that provides valuable
safety tips and detailed information about the issue.
You
may also consider buying and installing proper safety devices that are marketed
on the Web, and/or downloading a suitable application to your smartphone. If
you decide on that, make sure that you investigate the reliability of the
device that you choose. However, don't rely blindly on any product, guarantied or not. It would be a good idea to regard such a device as an
additional precaution to the safety habits that you have adopted. Remember,
nothing is foolproof. The responsibility of your child's safety is first and
foremost yours.
You
can find links to safety device vendors as well as comprehensive information on
the subject in the following site:
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