Feel Good Friday

Hi Everyone.  Happy Friday.  You have NO idea how glad I am that it is Friday!

Tonight's post is dedicated to my dear departed Father in Law and the Los 33.

It's been really hard holding off talking about this Feel Good story all week on my blog posts… I decided I wanted to save the story, and my feelings, until Feel Good Friday.

A little background before I talk about the story… I think it might help explain why I was so emotionally connected to this story.

I met my Father in Law back in 1976.  He was a truly wonderful man.  He was of slight build and not particularly tall.  He was a great athlete and although quietly spoken and fairly retiring, he had amazing leadership abilities.  Oh yeah… and he was the son of a preacher man (now you are going to have that song running around in your head for a while:-)  His father was a Methodist Minister who went into Africa on a mission during the latter years of Victoria's reign. 

My FIL was sent away to boarding school in England and only came home for major holidays.  Back then… England to South Africa was a major trek…..  however, England never held a permanent appeal for my FIL.  He couldn't wait to get back to the country of his birth.  As a child he was fascinated by geology… rocks and their formations made his day.   If you are into geology, then Africa is a good place to be! I remember we would go on picnics or family hikes and I was the only one fascinated by what he had to say.  His children… well… you all know children… there goes dad AGAIN!  For me… it was a whole new, fascinating world.

My FIL became a Mining Engineer.  When I met him he was the mine manager of one of the major mines in South Africa.  In fact, he had managed one of the top 12 mines in the world.  Responsible for thousands of personnel from pit crews, technical, engineering, office, mechanics – he was also responsible for meeting the targets for the mine and …. mine safety.   All these traits from a quiet, reserved, unassuming man.  All the years I knew him, he was completely and utterly dedicated to mine safety.  If there was ever a problem on the mine – and there were occasional problems, he would be down there leading the charge to bring back to safety any miner in difficulty.  One thing that always, always bothered him…. that around the world there were so many unsafe mines.  Mines where workers lost their lives every year.  It always bothered him that we didn't have the technology to rescue miners.

Consequently…. I watched with horror when 33 miners were trapped in a mine in the Atacama desert on August 5th.  I knew that my FIL, had be still been alive, would have been watching every day to see if any progress had been made.  I rejoiced 17 days later when a face appeared at the end of a probe.  I know that he would have rejoiced, too.

Tuesday night, I sat down to watch a little TV after a long day.  However, I saw a snippet on an online news channel caught my attention… the miners were about to be freed.  Hopefully the tunnel they had dug 2,300ft below ground would hold and the miners could finally be freed after 69 days underground.

Well… I started watching and became absolutely transfixed.  I watched with trepidation as they sent down the first rescuer.  2,300 feet into a hole.  A hole so small and so dark, that I still get chills thinking about it.  The first time the capsule returned to the surface bearing the first miner… I watched with anticipation for the winch wheel to come to a stop and the capsule to appear at the top of the pipe.   A pipe that was no wider than a bicycle wheel.  55cm of space was all the miners had as they got into their capsule.  22 inches!  And a journey that would take them 15 minutes.  In a tunnel so narrow, so dark and so long… that it makes my hair stand on end.  (Are you beginning to get the impression that I am claustraphobic yet!  I am … very!)

As the first capsule made its appearance deep in the earth – slowly sliding out of the ceiling….I heard a loud gasp.  Mmmmm…. considering I'm the only person in the house right now – where did that noise come from….. OH YEAH… ME!!!  I gasped.  I laughed.  I cheered.  I cried as Florencio Avalos, the first miner to be brought to the surface met with his family…..and…. I cried buckets at every reunion.  I watched until 3.30 in the morning, glued to bbc online.  I was in awe at the amazing job the rescue team had done.  I was in awe at the joyous reunions with family members.  Family members who, for 17 days, didn't know if they would ever see their loved ones again.  I was in awe of the miners themselves… amazed.  astonished.  I never stopped being amazed everytime the capsule was seen coming out of the ceiling of the workshop 2,300 feet in the earth's core – and I cried every time it made it's way back up carrying yet another miner.

The next day, I had bbc running all day on silent.  I sat on conference calls and kept an eye on my other pc, rejoicing in every single reunion that I was lucky enough to witness.

I cried buckets of tears.  I watched little girls and little boys, wives, mothers, fathers….all so overcome with emotion and joy they didn't know how to contain themselves.  I watched as rescued miners got down on their knees and gave thanks. I watched as grown men, who had worked on this rescue project for two months, cried.  I watched the Chilean mining minister, Laurence Golborne, smile and smile and smile.  Hugging each family member and each miner as they began the anxious wait for the capsule to make yet another successful trip. 

I watched as the Shift Leader, Luis Urzua, the last miner to be brought to the surface, appeared.  Of course, I cried some more.  What amazing leadership he had to keep these 32 men focused, energized, together, active and most of all – alive.  I smiled and laughed as he formally handed over his leadership of the longest shift in history to the President of Chile.  For some, a shift that lasted 70 days.

I thought back to my FIL.  That quiet, reserved, caring man and knew that he, too, would have been crying buckets.  Thrilled that finally, we had found a way to successfully rescue miners.

Now… if only we could find a way to keep mining safe.  To ensure that safety regulations and safety measures don't get in the way of profits and the bottom line.

So many of the things we take for granted every single day involve, in some way, these men.   Millions of them around the world, who engage in a job that has some of the most lax safety measures in the world, where approximiately 12,000 die each year.  Where the bottom line takes precedence over anything else.  Where many of these men go to work as its the only job they can get that pays anything close to a decent wage.  A job that has, for centuries, held inherent risks.  A job that most people don't associate with the daily things they do or use.

How wonderful to be able to cry tears of joy for 33 men and their families.  How wonderful that a story that could have been just another statistic, in another small third world country, could have united a country and had a world transfixed.

If you missed any of this story – you can link to this 4 minute review video on bbc

So, tonight we end on 33 reminders as to why we need to enjoy every single day, every single moment and….. remember to tell your loved ones that you.. well, love them!  

Eric John, this one is for you.  I know you would have been so proud of the team that put on this rescue operation, so tirelessly, so flawlessly.  A rescue that brought together people of so many nations.  An operation that brought well-deserved pride to a country.  I miss you.

Hugs

Jaydee