[second class citizen]

Back home at last!!! John and I just made it back home safely after one hellova day!

On our way home from Yosemite, we stopped in Oakhurst at the Ol' Kettle for lunch. John ordered a simple French Dip. About half way through he started to act funny....as though he'd tasted something bad and was trying to spit it out. Then I could hear him sort of coughing or gagging and at first thought he'd just swallowed something and it went down the wrong way and that he was going to be able to get it out. Then when he started gasping for air, I knew something was wrong.

When I asked him if he was choking, he was able to tell me he was and although I knew that if he was able to do to so, he'd be okay, I wasn't going to take chances. The look on his face and the sound of him gasping for air told me differently, so I hopped up from my seat (running on adrenaline) and made him stand up so I could "Heimlich" him. No one in the restaurant knew really what was happening, so just in case we needed more help I shouted out, "He's choking!"

I quickly put my arms around him, but I had them too low and when the waitress heard me yelling, she shouted back to me, "Higher!" (meaning to place my fist higher into his chest). When I did and gave him another good squeeze, he expelled the food.

He was noticably shaken up, so I sat him back down to get him calmed down. The waitress ran over with some water and everyone else in the restaurant returned to normal. Still, I knew John was still pretty shaken up, so we just relaxed a bit before finishing our meal.

Then just before we left, a woman from a nearby seat came over our booth and quietly told him, "I wasn't able to perform the Heimlich, but I was praying to Jesus for you." John thought that was humorous, so I knew things were getting back to normal. As we left the diner, we noticed her getting into her car. She had a "I (heart) Poodles" bumper sticker on her car which added further to her eccentric demeanor.

Before our lunchstop, he'd tried reaching Lisa once we'd gotten a signal after leaving Yosemite. About ten minutes down the road after our lunch, she called back. Of course, I was driving as John was still shaky; so when he answered her call and was telling her about what had just happened, she apparently asked where we'd eaten lunch. As John was telling her, I told him to tell her, "And the French Dip is to die for." He burst out laughing! Then I knew everything was going to be okay.

We had a great time at Yosemite, but after today's incident, I know the both of us are exhausted. We'll be sharing our better moments with you guys later, but right now, it's off to bed for us.