About Us

Our story

In 2010, our family lived in a rental home on a lake in North Carolina. The property was around ¾ acre with an unfenced yard and a dock on the lake. Our 3 children were ages 7, 4, and 2. Being an overprotective mom, our kids were never allowed outside without an adult. I knew the lake represented some amount of risk, however, I naively assumed that because we didn’t let them out of our sight that our vigilance would keep them safe. That spring we let the kids jump off the dock into the lake to daddy and then paddle and kick around to the ladder, climb up, and jump again. They thought this was great fun with daddy and we thought it was a positive family activity and good practice before swim lessons that summer. Jack, who was 4.5, enjoyed it the most. We did that maybe 3 times in the spring, always wearing their life vests.

So, on June 5 when Jack asked if they could jump in the lake with their grandparents who were visiting, I said yes, and reminded him of our 2 rules: always have a grown up with him and to wear his life vest. My husband was playing golf that Saturday morning and the rest of us were just hanging out at home. I did chores like watering flowers and the garden while the kids and grandparents played in the lake. They finished, hung up the towels and life vests on the back deck, and went inside for dry clothes. I continued watering plants before going inside to the kitchen. I heard what I thought to be all 3 kids upstairs with a grandparent, but when they came downstairs there were only 2 kids. I wasted precious time searching for Jack by thinking he was hiding in the house or had crossed the street to a neighbor’s home to see her dog. It did not cross my mind to check the lake; I just didn’t think my kid would go near the water without a grown up. But, he did.