Going Home

Tracy Wasem

"No coffee?" I whined while staring at the obviously empty pot and shelf. "The Circle K is finished, Tracy" Brian stated while giving me a kiss while heading out to work at the hospital.

Brian, an ICU nurse had tended to me three years ago while I was hospitalized 32 days for a ruptured appendix. The Near Death Experience happened while my heart stopped on the operating table twice. The event would leave me a spiritual person. One that wanted to know more about Jesus and God and understand what I had seen when clinically dead.

The morning was still dark, and the clock read 5:30 am as I buckled my seat belt and thought of how aromatic the Hazelnut coffee was at Circle K. I flipped the radio on to my favorite classic rock station My old Camaro Berlinetta was charcoal grey with red interior and a huge t-top roof.  I turned left at the intersection of a small road which ran North and South in front of our favorite park. I was behind a white sports car with a bumper sticker that read "My second car is a Porche" Heading North , suddenly a familiar spiritual voice shouted with authority TURN RIGHT...NOW! I could literally feel a presence grabbing my hands to turn the wheel right. I slammed on the breaks and turned right causing my car to swing 180 degrees in the opposite direction of the way I had been traveling. My pulse was rapid then I heard "Thump, Squeak, Thud, Boom"  the sickening sounds of a terrible car crash.

I turned to look in back of me,  the white sports car that I had been following was  crumpled and crushed like a used aluminum soda can under the front grill of a semi truck. Clearly, the semi had swung over the yellow line and hit the car head on! My turn had prevented me from slamming into the deadly crash. If I had turned left or kept straight I would have been dead too. No question of that.

 Quickly, I pulled my car over and off the road even though I was on the wrong side of the street. I barely remember the 911 call I made. The semi truck driver scooted out of the passenger side of the big rig. He was crying and shaking and clearly in shock. The fire department, police, paramedics filled the small street within minutes. The man driving the white sports car was deceased stuck between the front grill and what had been the dashboard of his car. The Jaws of Life were of no use even though they were tried. He was eventually  covered in a large off white tarp draping the car. He was going to be towed with the vehicle. It was all they could do to pull it away from the trucks death grip.

I prayed for the stranger who had lost his life in seconds. I knew he was being called home. The place I had traveled to of unconditional love and acceptance. I thanked God for sparing my life again and the spiritual friend who warned me to turn. He calls all of us when it is our time. On that cold morning it was his turn to return home. I asked God to heal his family  Remembering that important phrase that tomorrow is not guaranteed. Live your life well and always give praise to the creator of all.

Tracy Wasem