So Tuesday, March 2 will be a day that we will not soon forget. We thought it would be marked for a celebration day of Jaja’s 17th birthday. But this day had more in store than we had planned.

I (griff) was going to the dentist in the morning for a couple of fillings. It had only been 10+ years since a dental visit! My checkup the week before I was told I was lucky and had been blessed with good teeth genes. In my life, I have never had a cavity or braces, only had my wisdom teeth removed. Until, March 2, 2010. While working on one of my feelings, my tooth basically caved in. They said it was hard on the outside, and soft on the inside. So a root canal was needed. Not even knowing what that was, we had to move on with it because of the exposed area of  my tooth. So what started out as an hour process beginning at 9am actually ended at 3pm!

After school and dental work we headed home to get ready for the celebration night. We all were putting on our shirts that Jaja’s mom had sent from Thailand for Christmas. On the top it says “Mom”, “Dad” or “Daughter” in English and below it the same thing in Thai. We were heading out for seafood and Jaja had requested for her birthday meal. Just before leaving, Raigan said she felt sick, and she was. So with Mom and Raigan out of the picture this changed our situation. Kerrigan really wanted to eat at Thai restaurant, Jaidan did not want to she wanted Pei Wei only, and Jaja kept saying she didn’t care.  So we headed out to find a restaurant. I really did not feel like taking the two little girls to a traditional Thai restaurant so we were pushing for the Pei Wei. In the Eldorado area of McKinney there is a new Thai food place called “Thai Noodle Wave”. Thinking this was a probably not as fancy as the other Thai restaurant we headed there. It wasn’t what we expected from the outside! It was an eclectic not traditional with “fresh thai cooking”.

So as Jaja and I were trying to find something for everyone at the table, Jaidan started screaming! She was choking on a peppermint. A peppermint that she had grabbed from the front of the restaurant. I knew that you did not do the Heimlich on children but could not remember what to do. So I screamed across the restaurant asking for help for a choking child. A man and his wife came to help from the opposite side of the restaurant. He was very calm and said if she can cry she was getting air. That helped calm the situation. But Jaidan pointed that the peppermint was in her throat, so the women said for her to take a drink. And about two seconds later up came flying a peppermint! The man and women who came to my aid, were with a party of about 25 people. There were others closer who only looked at our situation, but did not react. These two guardian angels, were the heads of this very large Muslim family, as the women were in full Hijab. Later after finishing our meal, Jaidan and I went again to express their thanks to this very caring family. I am very thankful to this family as they responded quickly to our distress.

After that things calmed down, and we did end up having a wonderful meal. Jaja picked out some things that we all shared. This restaurant was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!! Very trendy, food with flair and presentation, and very moderately priced. I especially enjoyed the Kaow Soy soup (pictured here). Jaja said this was one of her Mom’s favorite foods and now it is one of her Dad’s too! Jaidan and Kailan got to play with the little umbrellas that came with the free ice cream you get after choking. We also had Pad See Lew and they all liked the Thai Herbal Chicken pictured below. So all were very happy!

We headed home after this long and exhausting day. After arriving home, and replaying the event of this adventure to Kristi I mentioned that I was starting to feel the effects of the root canal. She was surprised and said, “I thought you were scheduling a root canal, not have had one!”

I am not sure this was the birthday Jaja would have planned, however it would be one that she will not forget! Happy 17th Birthday!