Watching my mother almost drown in 1952 in Corona Del Mar

My mother had grown up in the Puget sound area of Seattle near Alkai point. So, she was familiar with swimming in the ocean there growing up. However, there are no waves there just the tides going up and down so rip tides only exist(I believe) where there are waves and currents and the like.

So, my mother I guess expecting that she would be okay in the ocean at Corona Del Mar in California in 1952 when we first moved to California swam way out into the ocean and couldn't get back.

My father and I were on the shore and my father said: "I have to go get your mother son!" So, he left me on shore alone at age 4 while he rescued my mother from a rip tide so she didn't drown.

As a four year old I knew my mother was in trouble because she was waving her arms and looked very scared. So, I bravely (for a four year old) waiting patiently on shore knowing I might lose my father and mother that day. 

Finally, my father said he almost drowned rescuing her from the rip tide. However, he had spent time in Hawaii and Tahiti and was much more familiar with rip tides from living down there for a couple of years with his first wife and brother from 1939 to 1941 before Pearl Harbor happened.

So, needless to say it was pretty scary waiting for my parents and realizing neither of them might make it back to shore the way it looked then to a 4 year old.

And they confirmed my fears as they both lay exhausted on the beach.

The lesson here?

Learn about rip tides or don't swim in the ocean unless you want to drown whether it be the Atlantic or the Pacific or wherever you are on earth.