Memorable Touch

I've been working at Habitat for Humanity this summer, and have gained plenty of memories from that experience. Here's one of them that touches on a previous post of mine. I've just copied it over from my other blog.


The last Thursday in August, I had quite an experience. I volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, (construction work, building homes). When there, we had to put up some latticework this week around the veranda. Being the “smallest” of the group, I volunteered to keep going underneath the veranda to fix and hold up bits of the latticework.

There are some pipes there (venting, ducts, etc) that make the crawl space MINIMAL. At the end of the day, on the last section of latticework, I could feel it going in; the space was too small. So, I got my job done, and then I say to the guys on the other side that I'm getting out. To get out, I need to shuffle backwards because there's no way to turn around. I get to one piece of venting that’s only about 10 inches to a foot off the ground, and suddenly I panic.

My face was two inches from the ground. Just above me was almost filled with cobwebs, even though it was all new. (Those spiders work fast.) There was just barely enough room for me to move, but I froze anyway.

It felt like my heart and stomach were in my throat & I couldn't breathe. I was trying to move backwards, but I felt pinned.

It was then that the block leader starts to crawl under the latticework and grabs my boot.

He starts talking to me, and talks me out of under that crawlspace. He doesn't let go of my boot until I'm out. It felt like it took forever. Afterwards, it just felt embarrassing, but while it happened, it was one of the freakiest situations I had ever been in.

That guy was amazing. He just kept saying "keep your head / shoulders / whatever down, and keep moving back. You're doing fine, just keep moving. Take deep breaths." You have no idea how much that contact was worth to get me out of there.

Whenever / IF ever you need to "rescue" someone, or really help them when they are panicking or in shock - TOUCH THEM! Even if it's just through a leather steel-toed boot, they will be able to be so much calmer and more focused. And don't stop talking to them.

THAT’S the power of touch. I don’t think I will forget that touch for a while. When you’re panicking, and need a way out, you tend to have a much clearer focus on certain details. Even today, three days later, that touch is still piercingly clear. It stands out of the whole situation. It was the divide between being alone & not able to breathe, and “everything is going to be okay.”