Thursday, February 14, 2008

The Five scariest Things I've Experienced

1) I was sitting beside my father's hospital bed after he had had a major life-threatening operation when my husband appeared at the door looking ashen. He told me Dario (our fifteen-year-old son) was down in the Emergency Department. My heart stopped. He had flown off his mountain bike after hitting soft sand and had landed on his head and shoulder, knocking himself out. He had mild concussion and a shoulder bone badly broken in two places, which required a metal bar to hold it together. What amazed me was that when he came round, he insisted on pushing his bike out of the forest for twenty minutes to civilisation. One tough little buggar.

2) Many years ago, a male friend and I were driving the narrow, metal country roads of New Zealand alongside a river, arguing heatedly. We approached a corner at speed and misjudged the its sharpness. The dark green MGT sportscar flew off the road straight towards a sheer drop into the river. I felt terror and then the strangest thing - complete calm. I was going to die and that was that. There was nothing I could do about it. I closed my eyes and relaxed - a rag doll going to its fate. The tires screamed and we came to a halt. I opened my eyes to see the drop inches in front of the car. A foot more and our fate would have been sealed. That was thirty years ago and I still remember that sensation of calm acceptance.

3) The day I took my beloved father to the hospital to have tests to see why he had difficulty swallowing. An hour later we had the diagnosis - cancer. Enough said. Sadly he is no longer with us.

4) The day my son (four years old) disappeared. I searched the house and garden, calling his name, becoming rapidly more and more agitated. Any mother will understand the sheer panic that takes over your body. He had never left the grounds before and it took a while before I went out onto the road. Way in the distance, up at the busy main road I saw him turn the corner and start to stroll towards me. A weight the size of Africa lifted off my heart. The funny thing was that I gave him his first lecture on stranger-danger and a couple of days later he wanted to know if that bad man was still outside our house. You never know how a kid is interpreting your words.

5) One day while living in Turin, Italy, I was sheltering from a sudden heavy thunderstorm against a wall in a narrow shopping street in the centre of town, when I saw an interesting shoe shop on the opposite side of the road. It was pelting down but I was bored where I was so I made the decision to run helter-skelter across the road. Completely drenched, I had only just arrived when I heard an explosion behind me. I turned to see great sheets of lightning erupting from a power cable which was snaking down the wall exactly where I had been standing. It had been hit by lightning. I can still shake at the memory of that close call.



15 comments:

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Suzanne, you lead a charmed life!!!

What an amazing post. I loved your son's photo. He's so handsome! and your father had the sweetest smile, which speaks volumes and explains why you are such a beautiful person. :D

That lightning bolt scared the heck out of me. I'm glad you moved. Our instincts save us many times.

Glad your vehicle stopped too.

No wonder you write such riveting books. :D

Hugs, Nancy

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

And I'm glad your son is okay!

Hugs, Nancy

raine said...

Wow.
Yes, indeed, all very scary stuff!

Your description of the car incident was very interesting to me. I had much the same feeling when involved in a near-accident, when I was sure I was on my way out, lol. A peculiar sense of calm acceptance. I remember it to this day...

Stay safe, Suzanne!

Erica Orloff said...

What a handsome young man! We should set him up with my oldest daughter. :-)

As the mother of a Demon Baby with a knack for scaring the CRAP out of me, I very much related to losing a child--even for a few minutes. Mine has done similar things and terrified me. But unless I gave up sleep and stood guard even at nighttime over him, he's just impossible to 100% keep out of harm's way---a determined little hellion.

E

Suzanne said...

Nancy, a cat has nine lives and we certainly have a few too. Thanks so much for the compliments. My father was the sweetest man and everyone loved him.
Yes, instincts are great things as long as our minds are quiet enough to listen to them.

Suzanne

Suzanne said...

Raine, yes, wierd that feeling of calm. I had it one other time when someone pushed me fully clothed into a swimming pool. Time stopped as I tried to analyze what was happening - why I was flying and then that calm as I faced a drenching.

Suzanne

Suzanne said...

Erica, LOL. How old's your daughter? My son is 17 and half Italian. Dreams of being an architect.
I've often read about Demon Baby on your blog and it's one of the reasons I love it. He is so inventive in his antics - obviously very bright and has a great future ahead of him, either as someone who changes the world or who destroys it. LOL.
You certainly have your hands full.

Suzanne

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Good afternoon, Suzanne. Hope you're having a fantastic weekend. :D

Jeff and I want to ice skate on Lake Huron but we're going to wait until tomorrow and hope we can do it before the storm moves in.

I'm reading through my manuscript and winding up to complete the rough draft. :D



Hugs, JJ/Nancy

Suzanne said...

Be careful not to break through the ice - you'd need a hot water bottle after that. LOL.

Wow, almost finished your ms? Way to go.

Suzanne

Swahilya Shambhavi said...

You experience life deeply! Wonderful as Ulysses said, "How dull it is to rust unburnished and not to shine in use....I will drink life to the lees."

Nature Nut /JJ Loch said...

Suzanne, I threw some sunflowers out for the birds and it sounded like popcorn on the ice. It was so slippery I couldn't walk to feeder. We have ice coating everything.

I formatted my children's story and the pages came out right. :D No having to edit out tons of words.

Wild wave to Swahilya too. :D

Hugs, JJ/Nancy

Suzanne said...

Swahilya, what a lovely quote. I will remember it. Thanks for dropping in.

Suzanne

Suzanne said...

Nancy, that's great about the formatting because cutting your beautiful words would be hard.

Suzanne

Erica Orloff said...

Suzanne:
Mine is 17 and half-Italian--and green-eyed and gorgeous. :-) She's a classical violinist! Very smart.

:-)
And yes, Demon Baby has my hands full and plenty o' gray hair.
E

Suzanne said...

Erica, a match made in Heaven - shame we live so far apart because I could see a classical violinist in the family.

I hope Demon Baby didn't take on the lions at the circus.

Suzanne