Cheating Death: Have You Done This?

There are two incidents that I could possibly have died:

When I was four or five years old we had a family gathering at our house. I guess most everyone was outside so I decided to try an experiment. I decided to find out what would happen if I stuck a brad (those who know what that is understands the horror) into an electrical socket. I opened the brad up and paused to look over at my aunt who was sitting at the kitchen table to see if she would stop me. She had a strange vague type smile on her face but didn't say anything. So I proceeded to move the brad toward the socket. About two inches from the socket I felt an unpleasant tingling buzz in my hand. I decided to not plug the brad in.

Two summers ago I went to Houston to visit family. I had my daughter and two grandchildren with me in my little Nissan truck.

About 30 minutes outside Houston on interstate 10 a semi started passing me. He was in the passing lane on my left and was about 3/4 past me when he had a blowout in one of his right front tires. The loud bang would normally have startled me but didn't faze me at all. I looked over and realized it was a blowout and saw a two foot piece of tire hurtling toward my windshield. I didn't feel panic at all...I casually stepped on the brake as I watched the piece of tire heading for my windshield. I didn't slam on the brakes or swerve the truck. I felt a very strange detachment...no fear...no panic...It was like I was merely an observer and it did seem that time slowed. The piece of tire strangely dropped straight down when it got about five feet from my truck.

I don't know if I actually excaped death those two times but possibly.

Originally posted by LadyGreenEyes

5. Driving in heavy rush hour traffic one evening, I passed through an intersection on a green light, and saw another car, in the cross street, that was coming right on through. The driver looked horrified (she was THAT close!), and it was clear we would hit one another. I could see her car beside mine, a few feet away. Suddenly, then, I was through the intersection, with no memory of having driven across the rest of it, and she was through as well. No impact. How that happened, I don't know.

Are we protected? In many cases, I believe we are. I can't explain why, but I do appreciate it! I guess there is some reason we are all supposed to still be here. May we all find that reason, and thus honor the gift we've been given!

That's the same kind of experience I had while driving through an intersection a few years back. I had pulled out into the intersection to make a left turn at the light, and as I pulled out I looked left, right, then left again and there was a van flying up the hill going about 50 (in a speed limit 30 zone) and heading toward my driver's side front wheel. It was kind of a blind hill as you looked down the road to your left, but as you come up the hill there are no obstructions anywhere, so I know the driver was able to see the light turn red.

I pushed on the brake pedal with both feet and screamed, "Oh God oh God!" and I winced in anticipation of the impact, in which I could envision the pain from my head slamming into my window (which was half-way down) and I could picture my car turned almost completely around backwards after the collision. My car seemed like it would not stop completely, but was rolling ever so slightly.

Next thing I knew it was over, and the van was speeding away to my right, in his proper lane. There was another car sitting at the red light coming from my right (if the van had swerved he would have hit this car head on), and there is no room for a vehicle to pass between two cars like that. Even if he could have swerved, as fast as he was going he would have flipped that van. I say "he" as an assumption, because I never saw a driver, just the front end of the van less than 20 feet away.

Reading your story about this one gave me major chills, but it's good to know we all survived to be here on ATS!

Well kind of stopped me in my tracks when i saw this. I was in florida with a group of friends, Everything was great. Then on the last day we were travelling back to the airport and our vehicles tyre blew. We somersaulted into a swamp. I was thrown through the window,. I managed to get to the van which was upside down. One guy was badly injured but survived. Everyone else had just scratches apart from my friend who i held on to. I knew she was dead already. I did not know but i had a bad cut and was losing a lot of blood. I could have joined her quite easily, But im still here.....And im raring to go!

Yes, I've cheated death a number of times, that's how I came up with ny username 'UnBreakable' after the Bruce Willis character in said movie. Just 2 weeks ago I had a run-in with a tractor trailer on I-95. We were both doing 65 mph when an accident occurred. My SUV was trashed but I came away unscathed, and I don't know why. In 53 years I've never been sick enough to be hospitalized or bed-ridden. My only ailment is AFIB (an irregular heartbeat) which causes me no problems. I'm healthy, but not muscle bound or in great shape. I don't know why but I've been in about a half-dozen 'death' defying situations over the years. It's as though someone or something wants me around.

reply to post by RothchildRancor

Absolutely ruined high school for me as I refused to trust anyone. Especially because she never apologized and would never recognize that it happened. Messed me up good to this day I feel like no one truly cares if I live or die.

People care. You have misplaced anger and distrust, possibly even PTSD.
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I have almost died more than once (medical) and it was nothing like in the movies (lol). My life didn't flash before my eyes and I didn't even think of my children or other family members. I used to feel ashamed of that.. I mean to not even be thinking of my sons, but RL is not a movie and those who write the scripts have no idea. Or maybe they know that emotions help sell a movie?

There were other times that I felt like I could have or maybe even should have died, but I always counted those times as being very lucky, and I don't take life for granted because I know I am blessed to be here.

When I was younger I always thought that I would die in a car crash at 45 yrs of age (no idea why I felt that, but felt it strongly). I'm beyond 45 now, so I wonder if I got my numbers confused and I'll die at 54 (lol). Not a healthy way of living/thinking I'm sure, but it is just how I think at times.

I've had a few instances, but I don't know if they really qualify in the sense the OP is asking.

1. I, too, had a very deadly form of cancer as a child. I think my prognosis was about a 10% chance of survival. There were lots of scares with that, but there was one in particular that my mother says she was sure I was going to die. One night she went to check on me before she went to sleep and I was ashen gray. No color at all. I was raced to the hospital and then air lifting to a major teaching hospital in Los Angeles where they worked on me. I don't think they every lost me per se, but I had a crazy seizure that they could not stop and had to medically induce a coma to control it.

2. My oldest brother was an idiot. When I was ten and he 16, he was a heavy drug user and involved in God knows what. One night he raced into the house telling my mom to lock all the doors and to not answer the door under any circumstances. Apparently he had pissed some people off and they were chasing him home. They showed up and tried to break in the door. No matter how hard they tried, the couldn't do it. Then they decided to break into the garage and try to steal his VW bug. It is my understanding these things are pretty easy to jump start, but they couldn't do that either. Next they tried to break in the garage door. Couldn't do it. Then they moved on to the windows, and to this day I do not know how these guys were unable to smash a single pane window. But they tried and tried and tried, and just seemed to bounce off. After what seemed like hours (no idea really how much time passed) they finally gave up and left.

As a side note: the police didn't seem to care until we told them we had a gun and would use it. Then they decided to show up and arrived a few minutes after these guys left.

3. When I was 17 I was on a cross country flight from LA to DC about an hour or so out from DC our plane began to very quickly lose altitude. Carts flew down the aisle and flight attendants raced for their seats. Not a word was said by anyone, including the crew. This was the only time in my life that I was certain I was going to die. I was surprised by how calm I was about it, but there was truly nothing I could do. I was sad that I wouldn't get to graduate, go to college, or get married some day, but I was at peace about it too. I felt awful for my parents because I knew it would just tear them apart. After what seemed like an eternity, the pilot suddenly pulled up (regained control????) and we climbed like crazy. Carts went the other direction down the aisle. I'm not sure how many G's an airliner can pull, but I was definitely pushed backward into my seat with a fair amount of force. The windows were closed near me during all this, so I have no idea just how close we were to crashing.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I have had many close calls over the years, enough so, if I could afford to stay in my house I wouldn't care to venture too often out my door.

The first real close call was when I was a teen. Was climbing in an old abandoned quarry with a kid that was friends with the people I was hanging with. They where too chicken to climb it(350ft deep) so stayed at the top. The kid yelled something at them that kind of annoyed them so they started throwing small rocks at him. This caused him to walk towards me, which meant one of the rocks veered close by to my very special place. Like an idiot, I semi-ran up the cliff/slope. I get close to the top and the ground gives out and I start to fall backwards but push my weight so I fall forwards. After that, all I remember is just sliding down the slope. I wasn't panicked, I wasn't thinking, then as quickly as I slid, I used my left hand to claw into the slope to stop myself. A few feet below where I stopped myself was a semi-sheer drop.

Another time at that quarry I was climbing up with a friend(right at the top, heading back for the night) he just lets out a weird grunt, and out of instinct I turn around and grab his hand, pulling him up as he started to fall backwards. I never liked that quarry, and the only reason I climbed it was for the quartz. Every-time though, without fail, it draws blood from me.

A few years later when I was 19, I worked at a woodworking factory(the place made mostly beer signs). I was unloading the rip-saw, while the other guy was feeding it. Even with safety ear plugs you can't hear anything but the rip-saw machine. Not even the break buzzer, not even the intercom system, not even a supervisor trying to talk to you. Anyways though, this guy who was feeding was going happy gilmore on me. The pile of cut wood for the molder machine was piling up and fell over. So I quickly tried to re-stack it, when I heard a very loud voice say my name with great urgency, as if something bad had happened. I turned around instantly, and seen a piece of cut wood, with an incredibly sharpened end, less then an inch or two from my kidneys/liver/soft torso part of my body. Afterwards I looked around and didn't see anyone near me that could of done it. No one mentioned it, as even the "special" person who was loading the machine was ignorant of my near brush with death.

Aside form that, I have alot of weird driving experiences. I remember the second week after I got my license I went to pull out of the driveway(was a rural driveway near a significant bend), looked left,right then left again. It was clear so I pulled out and all of a sudden I jerk my hand and pull the wheel(causing me to go in the oncoming traffic lane). Right after I did this I seen a silvery blur out the corner of my right eye. Turns out some jerk was driving around the bend at high speeds.

Another time, when I was heading north on I-81, between Hazleton and Wilkes-barre, I was running late for classes so I was driving faster then I should have been, much, much, much faster. Luckly two things where going in my favor:

a) Not to many other cars, so at the speed I was traveling it was like having the road to myself.
b) They where doing a ton of construction along I-81s, so the State Police where watching that road like hawks and ignoring I-81N.

Right where it drops from 65 MPH to 55MPH there is a significant bend in the road that cuts into a mountain/rocks. I am cruising up 81N in the far left lane(3 lane interstate section), and right before this bend, for no reason whatsoever, I moved from the far left lane to the middle lane. No cars around me or anything. As soon as I went around the bend I seen a ripped-up mac truck tired in the far left lane. At this time I was driving a sedan that was somewhat close to the ground. At the speed I was going, it would of been a really bad day.

Before that though, when I was driving my old car(first car), I was driving my sister home(she was preggo) from the hospital(bro-inlaw was involved in a wreck so was in the ER), I was driving up the road to the town they lived at going the speed limit. The town is at a fairly high altitude, and I ran into thick fog. Going up it is two lanes and I was in the right lane. For no reason I move over to the left lane, and a few moments later I noticed that I passed a large buck in the right lane. How thick the fog was, there was zero chance I would have been able to stop in time.

There was the time my friends and I where shot at by some wacko(was in a city my mom was living at. We heard a rifle shot, and round pass right by us. And then a few more shots while we where running. We always thought it might of had something to do with a DV/ attempted rape that we phoned into the cops from a pay phone during one of our nights out "partying".

Plus I was held up at gun point right on my 18th birthday..............

reply to post by korathin


Continued-

I almost forgot, when my mom was preggo with me, she had a scary dream. In the dream she was driving a blue station wagon down a highway, and a rider truck veered out of it's lane and had a head on collision(death dream). A couple week later my dad shows her a car he wants to buy for her. Guess what kind? A blue station wagon. Suffice to say, they didn't get the car.

Honestly though, growing up I was in a few car wrecks and came out unscathed(/knock on wood). And over the years I had "creepers" who tried to get close to me, people who in hindsight where extremely dangerous perverts up to no good. Through luck or divine grace, I instinctively and intuitively, handled those instances in a way that enabled me to get out of those situations.

Originally posted by RobinB022
reply to post by RothchildRancor

 

Absolutely ruined high school for me as I refused to trust anyone. Especially because she never apologized and would never recognize that it happened. Messed me up good to this day I feel like no one truly cares if I live or die.

People care. You have misplaced anger and distrust, possibly even PTSD.
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I have almost died more than once (medical) and it was nothing like in the movies (lol). My life didn't flash before my eyes and I didn't even think of my children or other family members. I used to feel ashamed of that.. I mean to not even be thinking of my sons, but RL is not a movie and those who write the scripts have no idea. Or maybe they know that emotions help sell a movie?

There were other times that I felt like I could have or maybe even should have died, but I always counted those times as being very lucky, and I don't take life for granted because I know I am blessed to be here.

When I was younger I always thought that I would die in a car crash at 45 yrs of age (no idea why I felt that, but felt it strongly). I'm beyond 45 now, so I wonder if I got my numbers confused and I'll die at 54 (lol). Not a healthy way of living/thinking I'm sure, but it is just how I think at times.

No # people care, but because of what happened it made me feel a certain way that was never resolved!

I really do hate it when people try and tell me that I have something wrong with me, no #!

That is why psychologists are the worst at their own profession. Feelings like mine are common in such a horrible occurrence.

There have been numerous times I escaped death or serious injury... I was going downhill on a narrow street that had cars parked at the curbs on both sides and a 440 Dodge smoking it's rear tires as it accelerated toward me... I moved as far to the right as I could, my right leg making contact with the side of a 53 Plymouth and left against the Dodge as it's front bumper destroyed the rear shock and the rear view mirror broke my clutch lever, crumpled the handlebar and bent the left foot peg of my 175cc Bridgestone motorcycle... I was on the bike and upright but not in control as it moved right and hit a 63 Impala dead center the trunk with the front going under the bumper as I did a flip over the roof, slid on my back down the windshield and across the hood hitting feet first on the pavement at a fast run.... I had a small cut from the hood ornament or steering damper knob to the left of my left testical but was alright otherwise okay.... I won't get into the stuff where I happened to move a few feet when bullets, grenades and mortar rounds were flying around and exploding leaving me unscathed while in Vietnam... I still ride motorcycles and drive a highly tuned supercharged Honda Fit at the age of 63 and feel as if I have a sixth sense about where to be in a lane when traveling at high speed on roads with blind curves.

reply to post by smyleegrl


I think this is my fourth post in this thread. I keep remembering times I almost died!

When I was in my early teens I went swimming in the river with a bunch of friends. We all started out at an area above where we were parked, and swam down to the parking area. Everyone had already made it to the small sandy area where we were going, but the current got me and pulled me out, and I went under the water.
I remember thinking, 'this is how I'm going to die'.

I was fighting from panic, and I hollered out, "HELP!!", when I came to the surface, and then got pulled back under again.

While I was under the water I heard a voice in my head that said, "It isn't your time yet. Stop fighting the water, and just relax. You'll be okay." So I stopped fighting, and I floated to the surface.

When I opened my eyes one of my friends had swam out to get me. He reached for my arm and pulled me out of the current, and we made it to the river's edge.

The rest of my friends watched in stunned awe! They said I scared the s*** out of them!
The guy that came after me said when I got pulled back under the second time I just missed hitting my head on a big boulder! If I had, I would have been knocked out and drowned.

I am not sure if this truly qualifies, but I have actually died and come back.

It's a long boring story as to how I got to the point of death, but I was 16, I had taken something I shouldn't have and I had a massive heart attack after getting out of bed to go to the toilet.

I went into cardiac arrest and I was suddenly aware that I was looking down upon myself (I was no longer in my body) I heard a nurse shout for help and watched her roll my body over and start CPR on me. I remember being really afraid, not because of being dead (I wasn't actually aware that my heart had stopped it was more the sensation of being out of my own body)

I instictively knew at that moment that I had a choice between life and death. For some reason the fear was too great for me so I clung to life. After that everything went black and I woke up in my hospital bed the next morning.

The nurses, after telling me off for getting out of bed told me that I had been in cardiac arrest for approx 3 1/2 minutes and that I was very lucky that the nurse had been called into the room by another patient.

Way back when I was 18 years old myself and two friends were going to a party with a 24 of beer. The one guy who was driving owned one of those "Love Vans". Mag wheels and the inside all done up with a bed, stereo fridge ect.

Anyways this van only had two seats, so I got the back which wasn't bad except for lack of seat belts.

Later that cold night we ran out of beer so off we go to borrow (steal) a bottle of whiskey from on of my friends Dad.

So with our mission completed off we go back to the party, for some reason the driver thought it was hilarious to start speeding and weaving so I was getting tossed around in the back.

I eventually wedged myself up against the back of the passenger bucket seat and held myself into a ball with my parka hood pulled up over my head.

All the while the driver is going faster and faster and I am yelling my head off in a very aggressive fashion as I was scared bad and mad as hell at the same time.

The more I yelled the faster he went, by now I am certain we are going to crash and there is nothing I can do about it.

Sure as heck we came over a rise at high speed and the pavement ended and a construction zone began.

The Laughing from up front stopped and the last thing I heard was OH ***K and I new for sure I was a goner.

First there was a feeling of being in Zero gravity then the spinning started, 360's and fast, then a huge bang then nothing.

I opened my eyes about a minute later and I could not see a thing, then I realized I was trapped underneath what was left of the bed frame.

After about 5 minutes my friends got me out of the van and what I saw looked unsurvivable.

The whole passenger side of the van was completely gone just a bid hole nothing from the back to the passenger side door.

I was thrown to the drivers side and smashed through the bottom paneling that covered the wood framing for the bed. This then acted as a giant broken wooden spider web which held me captive and also saved my life without one doubt in my mind.

It turned out we hit gravel then spun into a road grater then carried on down the road and hit a parked car sideways and rolled right over it.

We ended up rolling 9 times completely and the spins were incalculable.

My two friends were just sore, I only had a goose egg on my head and some cuts from the bed frame.

I should not have survived that night.

Great thread and great stories.
Thanks to all for sharing.

Regards, Iwinder

I've died a few times due to experimenting with dia morphine in my irresponsible youth.
i was in intensive care and my heart stopped a few times until they stabilized me.
I remember nothing about being dead..
(I hurt my family a lot due to this and it made me sad..)
Limbo

Tell your child that fairy dont exist.
No such thing as magic and ESP.
So if she does has a gift you will beat it out of her!
"sarcasm!"

or you could find little ways to train her.
nothing big or strenuous.
as this will make her No wont to build on what she has.

make little games for her.
like have 3 boxes and one has the sweets or sum gift in it.
hide things in your home for her to find.
Make it a Fun game.

oh! and tel her to keep it a secret!!!
you Don NOT want any one to find out.
as time goes on get her to do harder things.
you should studies ESP.
then teach her about it.

May you both live long and happy.
Keep her name and you a secret.
so no one can find you.
it can realy mess your life up if ever one is asking Her
to help them
the firs't ten is nice. but when it gets to 10,000!!!

Around 1984 when I was in the 9th grade I took a ride with my Dad to the store. On the way back home I laid down in the back seat to rest my eyes.

We were going down this street when a man's voice suddenly told me "Sit UP!"
The voice was one I didn't recognize and feeling a little weirded out I did. Right after I sat up a woman driving her car had some type of steering problem and ended up hitting my Dad's car in the side.

Where I was lying down at in the car the door frame had been knocked in and would have hit me right in the head either hurting me very badly or even killing me. I thanked God and whomever that voice belonged to as I realized how close I came to some major pain at the least.

So to this day I, like many others, do feel that we are watched over till that irrevocable time when we can't avoid our deaths.

Although it was a very long time ago,and i was young,but i Remember your incident at Myrtle Beach,with the Ferris Wheel. I was there when it happened. you could see the girl dangling from the Strip for hours. Seems like she had gotten tangled in a cable or something.Took them quite a while to get her down.And that is not the only thing i have seen at Myrtle Beach..
I have also Witnessed a Motarcyclist get decaptated and i also saw a Waterspout (Tornado on the Ocean) at that place. Hahaha. Heres to safe vacations....

Originally posted by grimghost
Although it was a very long time ago,and i was young,but i Remember your incident at Myrtle Beach,with the Ferris Wheel. I was there when it happened. you could see the girl dangling from the Strip for hours. Seems like she had gotten tangled in a cable or something.Took them quite a while to get her down.And that is not the only thing i have seen at Myrtle Beach..
I have also Witnessed a Motarcyclist get decaptated and i also saw a Waterspout (Tornado on the Ocean) at that place. Hahaha. Heres to safe vacations....

Wow, someone else who saw that! I know. There were lots of people there, but still. Nice to meet you!

I think the worst part about that evening was what happened after they freed the girl and took away the victims and the body. Sarah and I were in that crowd the entire time, there were so many onlookers that you couldn't move. But when the excitement was over, people left.

I'll never forget....they walked through the smears of blood on the ground. The park workers hadn't cleaned up the blood yet and people just walked through it like it was nothing. That still gets to me.

While camping in Yosemite National Park as a teenager I almost died. Some friends and I were intoxicated and hanging out on the shores of the Merced river near Stoneman Bridge. It was around midnight and we were standing at the bottom of a huge pine tree.

This tree's roots were hanging down into the river because it's base had been slowly eroded from the river flow. So where we were standing at the bottom of the tree stuck out a bit over the river. Anyway, we were shining our flashlights into the air over the river and watching the bats flying around. We stood there doing this for quite awhile.

When we decided to leave, I took a step but somehow I was blinded by staring at the lights for so long and I plunged head over heal into the Merced River. By some miracle I had done a complete flip and landed basically in the water standing up but then kind of fell backwards where my head went under the water. I still can recall the bubbles traveling up to the surface through the beams of my flashlight that was underwater, it was such a strange experience.

I sat up, feeling lucky that it was a calm area of the river and only about 4 feet deep. However, There were large and small granite boulders everywhere beneath the surface and I just happen to land where none of them were. I was in such shock that I didn't even feel the ice cold water that is basically snow run off from thousands of feet above Yosemite valley.

I remember walking back to camp fully dressed and soaked and my two buddies were laughing because it sounded like I was wearing sponges for shoes. I still don't know how I didn't crack my skull open and drown that night. The stupid things that you do when you're young. I am much smarter these days, and I have a lot more respect for the outdoors.

Many people have died in Yosemite National Park, so I feel very lucky. The wilderness surely has no mercy for the foolish, nor the intoxicated for that matter. ~$heopleNation.

In 2007, I was told I had a week to live. I had been sick for about 10 years. I went from doctor to doctor desperately trying to get a doctor to listen to me and my symptoms. Unfortunately, no one did. They labeled me and said I was just trying to get attention. They said, I was making up stories. For instance, I have never been a salt eater. During my illness, I could eat a whole Morton's salt in one day. I'd pour it on my hand and lick my hand like a cat. When it was gone, I'd pour again and repeat. I did this from the time I woke up till the time I went to sleep. I told them my husband was a witness, but no one would believe me. They said, no one could eat that much salt and live. I said, I AM AND MY HUSBAND IS A WITNESS! I also began to drink in excess. Something I had never done before either. The doctor that finally diagnosed me said my symptoms were normal for someone in my state. The salt was a big red flag for anemia and drinking in excess was the way my mind tried to numb the pain my body felt but didn't know it on a conscience level.
In 2007, my cat Rocko scratched my eyeball. I went to the doctor for eye drops and casually mentioned that I was having pain in my chest. The doctor ordered me to have a ekg. The machine went nuts and the doctor ordered me to the emergency room. I couldn't even go home and feed my animals. I stayed the night on the 7th floor which was the heart ward. They did tests all night. The next day, the heart surgeon told me I didn't have a heart problem. He said, I was anemic. So anemic, that I had literally bled out and they couldn't figure out why I was even still alive let alone walking on my own and talking. He said, I would be dead within a week if I didn't get a blood transfusion. I chose not to have the transfusion and to his shock, I said, I guess I will just have to make my peace with God. They put me on high levels of Iron, almost 1,000 ml a day. A month later, I had the surgery to remove the fibroid's that had caused the blood loss and anemia.
During this time, I teetered between this life and the next. I saw things that would make your head spin. I saw demons in the sky, looking down like line backers with their hands on their hips and fire in their eyes like they were blocking my way to heaven. I saw ghosts, thousands of orbs floating all around my house, and we had flies, like Ametyville horror! I saw my angel of death and I saw my Angel of Life. My Angel of Life gave me a glimpse into the "Book of Life" and told me, something that happened when I was 7 years old wasn't my fault. To this day I have no idea what it was but a weight has been lifted off my shoulders ever since. The ghosts I saw EVERY DAY were the old slaves from President Andrew Jackson's Hermitage. (I live on the land that was once owned by the President) One ghost stood out more then the others. He was a tired old black man. He wore farmers pants, white shirt rolled up at his elbow, a hat and a jacket which was slung over his back as he and the female slaves walked back to the mansion. Everyone I encountered had a serious hatred of me, whether they knew me or not. It was awful. I didn't know who the ghosts were but I knew they were slaves from the 1800's. The women wore peasant clothes with scarves on their heads and the old man was dress like a farmer. During this time I also experienced a dual life. I was living two lives at the same time. This life, I am married without children. My other life, I was very happily married great husband, children and a nice brown car. The time seemed to be set in the 1940's.
It took me three years to recover. I was so weak that I couldn't lift my head off of my lap. When I began to recover, I decided to join the Daughter's of the American Revolution. Two signers of the Declaration are in my blood line as well as a lot of historical figures. Upon initiation, I went to the Hermitage (Home of President Andrew Jackson.) The meetings for DAR are held in the boardroom of the Hermitage. My first meeting, no one showed up so the office said I could take the tour of the Hermitage for free. I went through the mansion and toured the grounds. On the grounds is a slave cabin. Outside of the slave cabin is a picture of an old black man with a group of beautiful white women dressed in their finest early 1900's clothing. IT WAS THE SAME MAN I SAW WALKING BETWEEN MY HOUSE AND MY NEIGHBORS HOUSE EVERYDAY WITH THE SLAVE WOMEN wearing the same clothes! I still can't believe it! When I would see him and the others I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. His name is Albert Jackson. He is the longest living slave on the Hermitage property. When slavery was abolished and the other slaves left for freedom, Albert Jackson stayed. I am well now but it took many years to recover. I literally clawed my way out of the grave and lived to tell.This is only a small portion of what I witnessed when I teetered between this world and the next. Gratitude is the most important thing in life!