Dear Mr. Heimlich, Thank you for your Maneuver!

My dad and I went to Cracker Barrel last night to have dinner. We were both almost finished eating and I was telling him about a story I saw on the news about Belle Meade Mansion as he was taking the last bite of food from his plate. For some reason, which I still can't remember, I looked at him and he had this really weird look on his face. I stopped mid-sentence of my story and asked him if he was ok. He shook his head hard that he wasn't. So I asked if he was choking and he shook his head yes.

Now, my Daddy is my Daddy. And we all know that nothing bad ever happens to MY Daddy because everyone knows that my Daddy is invincible. There are no words to describe the panicked look my dad had on his face. You could tell he was serious by the look in his eyes. He was worried.

As soon as he shook his head that he was choking, I was out of my seat, yanking him out of his seat. I wrapped my arms around him to start the Heimlich. My dad is a good 6 inches taller than me, so I misplaced my hands at first, but he slid them up where they should be and I started the Heimlich. I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to do it and help him. I started the Heimlich, I probably pumped 5 times before it dislodged the food. After the 3rd pump, I screamed for someone to help us because everyone was just staring. The manager literally just stood in front of the fireplace with his mouth gapped open watching us.

Thankfully, the food came out. As soon as it did, my dad sat back down and drank some tea. He is extremely shy and hates to have attention on him, so just having to stand up for him to have the Heimlich performed was torture enough on him. What had happened was that he took a bite of fish and bite of cornbread. The cornbread was very dry and got stuck along with the fish in his throat.

Now, I am a nervous wreck kind of person. So as soon as I knew my Daddy was ok, I went to sit back down. I immediately started crying before I even sat down. I also was shaking so bad I couldn't even hold a napkin to wipe my eyes with. So, what did I do? I started laughing. Why? Because in the face of scary situations or sad situations, I laugh to try to keep from crying. I kept asking him if he was ok because his color in his face was a greyish color, but it eventually went back to normal. And of course, he acted like nothing had ever happened because that's my Daddy and he doesn't dwell on anything.

It really was the scariest thing I have ever had to be involved in. I also hope it NEVER happens again with anyone I know. I'm glad I knew what to do and had the instinct to do it immediately without thinking, but I sincerely hope I never have to be in a life or death situation like that again.