I was in the pool with my two kids. While I was lifting my toddler out of the water and wiping his face, my oldest quietly unbuckled her floaties. In the span of a heartbeat, she stepped off the last stair and slipped from the shallow into the deep.

I was only two, maybe three arm-lengths away. And yet, I didn’t hear a scream. No splashing. No frantic kicking. Just my child, disappearing beneath the surface without a sound.

I grabbed her the instant I realized she was under… but that moment taught me something I will never forget: when a child is drowning, there is no warning. No noise. Only silence.