Alligators in Florida are nothing new, and my Grandmother reminded all of us grandchildren of this on a regular basis. Nothing made her more happy than to put a good scare into us, and she could do it with a flair not seen before or since. "If you are not afraid, then you are not alive," she would say.

We affectionately referred to her as Gonga, though in a million years I could not tell you why. It never occurred to me to ask her that question, as she always had our imaginations running on overdrive whenever we were around. It was during one of those many visits to her in Florida that I had the scare of my lifetime.

Gonga had a wonderful home, full of all kinds of creatures that we never saw back home in North Carolina. Every time we visited Gonga, it was like a safari to us as they had five million types of lizards, including great big iguanas, and of course those elusive alligators. We had never actually seen one of course, but we knew they were there. Gonga said so, and that made it law in our minds.

In back of Gonga's house was a huge in-ground swimming pool, and though we splashed around in it by day, it was alligator country at night. None of the grandchildren had ever seen these alligators, but they were very real in our minds. Gonga had a special talent for spinning tales that resonated clearly with kids. We all knew that we were facing mortal danger to approach the pool at night, and that usually kept us away. My morbid sense of adventure at a very young age led me to challenge my Gonga on this, and I will never forget the lesson.

Being a nine year old boy, I had a healthy curiosity of all things dangerous, and the "alligator swamp" Gonga had told us of on so many occasions had become a bit of a holy grail to me. I simply had to see the alligators in that pool. For at least six summers, I would come to see Gonga, plan to sneak out there and see them, and chicken out. Nothing was going to stop me on this warm August night in 1977.

Sneaking out would be easy, as my bedroom was in the back of the house. I needed only to slip out of my bed, cross the hall, and go out the back door to the gated pool. When I arrived at the gate to the pool, I stopped to listen. There was ivy growing up the six foot gate, and you could not see anything inside from my five foot perspective. Standing outside the gate, I listened for any sound that might tell me that Gonga was telling the truth about the alligators. There was nothing but silence.

As I turned

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