Save the Children

It happened so fast, I didn't know what to do. The van was smoking, the moms were moaning, and my daughter was sitting in the driver's seat, stunned. I checked to make sure no one was seriously hurt--no last rites would be needed here--and then I strapped my daughter back into her seat, hopped in, and started to drive off.

"Dad, wait!"

David Fick

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She jumped out, grabbed one of the women's cell phones, called 911, and had the dispatcher send an ambulance to the parking lot, stat. She's a great kid, but I can honestly say I've never been more proud of her than I was at that moment.

"That's my girl," I said, as we drove down Lyndale toward home. "Okay, now. What's the moral?"

"I know, I know," she sighed, realizing we had to spin it into a teachable moment. "Like you always say: 'Don't waste too much energy fighting stuff like this, because there's more of them than us.'"

Jim Walsh can be reached at 612.372.3775 or jwalsh@citypages.com