Most people think my job is insane. Honestly, they're probably right. When people talk about dangerous professions, they usually mention logging, commercial fishing, or construction. Those jobs earn their reputation. One mistake, one moment of bad luck, and you're fucked. Or hell, dead. Me? I always found myself drawn to danger. Maybe it's the adrenaline. Maybe it's because some part of me enjoys standing in places most people would never willingly go. You can learn a lot about a person from the work they choose to do. For me, that work is commercial diving. Most folks hear that and assume it's terrifying. Being dropped into cold, dark water hundreds of feet from the surface while surrounded by machinery that could crush you without warning doesn't exactly sound appealing to the average person. The funny thing is, I find it relaxing. Down there, the world becomes quiet. The noise of everyday life (the wife complaining) disappears beneath the water. It's jus...
This all started on a pretty typical Saturday night. Myself, my partner, my sister and her partner, along with my mom and dad, were having one of our usual family nights at my parents’ house. We do this maybe once a month. Nothing fancy, just dinner, hanging out, catching up. We’re all in our early 40s now, and my parents are in their mid-70s. My dad is 76. We ordered Chinese food, ate way too much, and had a really nice evening. After dinner, like we often do, we decided to go for a walk around the neighborhood to help settle everything. My sister, my partner, and I all smoke marijuana fairly regularly. My parents don’t smoke at all. My dad especially has always been very “old school” about it. I remember him saying once that he tried it maybe a single time when he was a teenager in the 1960s, didn’t feel anything, and never bothered with it again. About six months earlier, something kind of funny had happened. The 6 of us were at Red Lobster for dinner and found a small package of l...