Near Death Experience
This week the subject was suppose to be
child hood surgeries. Humm...I never had any so I think I'll write
about something else. I had a near death experience...one really
dark night but before we get to that story, I need to give you some back ground.
We had a spinster who lived in our
neighborhood. Her name was Miss Collins and many of the girls in the
neighborhood really loved her. I can't for the life of me know why
she put up with us...but she did. During the day on the weekends
especially in the winter, fall, spring or when the weather was bad,
we would go hang out at her house. She liked to make things mostly
out of wood, items like doll houses, barns and
toys. If it was a building, she would fill it with all the little
accessories that it needed from furniture to animals, people,
etc...She would make these toys for her nieces whom we never saw. I
just thought they were the luckiest kids to have an Aunt who would
make them toys. Sometimes she would let us help. She
would give us a small piece of sand paper and a piece of wood that
she had carved or cut. We would work on sanding the edges until they
were smooth. Often I would think it was smooth enough, and she would
tell me, “ Oh no, not yet, not done yet”. She always let us know when it was time for us to go home.
She had a small dog...I do not remember
what it was ...maybe a Chihuahua...It was the neighborhood “ ankle
biter”. I am sure the dog had a name and I can no longer remember
it. Miss Collins had a beautiful yard. Her house sat on a hill and
her yard sloped away from her house on the North and West sides. She
planted beautiful perennials which returned every year. She weeded
the beds and tended them very carefully. They were always beautiful.
She had grass paths which weaved around the beds which she very
carefully mowed with a manual push mower. She was the first person
who likely inspire my love of gardening. The lower level of her
house exited to the north yard which was fenced. She had a small
garden, more flowers and a clothes line behind the fence.
At night after dark, her yard was the
best yard to hide in when we played “Touch the Porch” or “Hide
n Seek” because of the flower beds. We could hide behind bushes
and flowers, never in the beds, but we could lay quietly along the
grass path waiting for the right moment to run for the porch..but
there was one small problem...the “barking ankle biter” which she
would let out either on a chain in the front yard or loose in the
fenced lower yard. As soon as that dog came out, it would start to
bark at us. And we would have to change our hiding spots in a hurry.
If the dog carried on for too long then she would come out and yell at the kids that she knew were just outside of her sight in the darkness!
She would tell us, "Go home and play in their own yard!" I
always wondered if she realized that the kids who came to visit on
Saturday during the day were the same kids who she was yelling at
that same night.
Near one of her flower beds on the west side of her yard, there was a utility pole. The pole had a guide wire for support
much like the one I have in my yard today. Every time I weed the
flower bed with the guide wire at my current house, I can help but
think of the night I tangle with the one at Miss Collins house.
One moonless dark summer night when we
were playing “Touch the Porch”, my sister Sue, Pam Randall and I
were once again, hiding among Miss Collins flower beds. I believe
that we had just decide that we could make a run for the porch and so
we took off. First Pam, then Sue and then me...running full
speed....the next thing I knew I was flat on my back in the grass
with a thud! “Oh wow”, I think “ what a beautiful sky full of
stars... how did I get here?”
Then I hear my sister and Pam
whispering...”what was that? Did you hear that? What was it? Jan
where are you?”
I think...”huh...I'm right here...why
would they say that?” Then I try to whisper and I realize that I
can not make a sound...nothing is coming out of my mouth.
“Jan where are you, what happened?”
I hear a bit louder...
They call me again.... and again …. this time
I hear fear in their voices...still they whisper because they don't
want too be found. I hear them in the grass nearby. Searching for
me and I can not move nor can I talk...I now begin to feel a little
like I can not breathe ...I too am thinking...humm... wonder what
happened.
“ I am over here”, I want to yell but I can't!
Finally Pam or Sue finds me...I feel them touch me but I can't really
move....I try to talk to them but nothing comes out.....
Then one
of them yells, “Oh my God, is she dead?”
Now my mind is
racing....”No I am not dead, silly! I am over here”
I try to tell them but
nothing comes out....they start shaking me...and I try to yell at them to tell them to stop it but all that comes out is a weak whisper, “
Stop!”
In my mind I am screaming but only a faint whisper is
coming out...Next I start to moan and move abit. My mind is racing
but I am having trouble moving, talking and I begin to wonder if this
is a dream. I can see the dark silhouettes of my sister and my friend
as they are looking down at me.
I am thinking " I'm OK! Just give me a
minute!" ...and they do. They sit there next to me while I come
around.. I was certain I was breathing now and could whisper. Now
my neck hurts and it starts to become clear what happened...I ran
full force into the guide wire. I am not sure if I flipped over it
or what but the force of my fall to the ground knocked the wind out
of me, for sure. I do not think that I lost consciousness but I may
have..As I said I seemed very aware of all that was going on around
me but I could not respond to any of it.
For me, that night, the “Touch the
Porch” game was all done. We decided not to tell our parents about
it at first because we were afraid that they would not let us play
outside after dark if we did...so we tried to hide it but when the
mark showed up on my neck, I had some explaining to do. So I told
them that I ran into the guide wire at Miss Collins house when we
were playing “Touch the Porch”. They did not ask specifics...and
I did not tell...Mom looked at it and told me “ You need to be
more careful...no more hiding at Miss Collins house. She probably
doesn't want you up there anyway!”
Thinking back on it, I really may have been hurt very badly that night. It is a wonder I did not break
my neck or land on my head. I can find some humor in the story now but it
really wasn't all that funny at the time. As kids, we did not treat it
as seriously as we should have. I should have had things looked at
back then...and my neck issues that I have lived all my life may have been from that very night!
Sorry there are no photos....It was too dark to take any while playing "Touch the Porch" !
Until next time! I hope you enjoyed my
memories.
Jan
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