by Recently I came across the 2016 obituary for Edward Abrahamson, who was the school principle at my elementary school, Flower Hill Elementary.
I will always remember him as the man who saved my life, even though he technically didn’t save my life. I was in the 3rd grade, and I was walking to school when this monster-sized dog jumped on me, knocked me over, then stood on me, pinning me to the ground. It was actually a sweet, overly friendly dog and I was in no danger, and I kinda knew that, but the dog was also so big and what if I was wrong? So I was laying on the side of the road, with this huge dog staring down at me, when Mr. Abrahamson drove by, on his way to work. He stopped and asked, “Do you need help?” “Yes!” He got out and smiled and that’s when I realized, yeah, I was probably not in danger. “Come on boy,” he said to the dog who happily got off me. He was a good boy really, and Mr. Abrahamson took me the rest of the way to school.
Even though I knew that I had been safe all along he was still my hero. God knows how long I would have lain there before either the dog got bored or I decided to try to just get up. He rescued me. And he was so sweet about it. He didn’t make me feel stupid for being scared. He was such a nice man. Thank you Mr. Abrahamson. I never forgot you. (He’s in the center of the first row below.)
I had to pass that dog every school day for the next three years and I always dreaded him. Although it’s not life threatening it was no fun to have a dog knock you over and stand on you when you are teeny.
