More Stuff (Continuation from previous post)

61. I was once taken in, cuddled, massaged, and sung to by a pretty girl--my sister Cindie (I was about 5 years old). I was so scared of lightening and thunder when I was a kid, it would make me literally curl up in a ball and wish I were dead. Mom and dad were gone one night when there was a bad storm. My sister knew that I was scared, so she had me climb in bed with her. I remember I was completely covered up, head and all. She rubbed my head, scratched my back, and sang "I Am a Child of God". I remember shaking from fright initially, but after a while, she gave me so much comfort and security, I fell asleep. I woke up in my bed the next morning. Thank you Cindie.

62. When I was 17 years old, Michelle Saunders and I were saved by "an angel". She and I were going to Rachel Judd's (Rachel Reese now) house where we were meeting several other friends to hang out and play games. It had been raining for several days in a row, and the roads were flooded. We came to a point in a road (Arrowhead Lake Rd--at the end of the golf course) where the street was so flooded, it literally had turned into a rushing river (it was about 100 feet wide, no joke). Michelle was driving a little Toyota Corolla (I think), so we weren't very high off the ground. We stopped about 50 feet before the river and just kind of looked at each other wondering if we should attempt to cross. A big pick-up truck came up behind us and noticed that we weren't ready to attempt the crossing yet, so he went around us and made the attempt himself. We watched in wonder to see how easily he made it through. We could tell he struggled a bit, but was successfully able to make it. It seemed really deep in the middle, but being young and naive, we thought that if we got enough speed up, the velocity would push us through without any trouble. Michelle floored it! We made it about 30-40 feet into the water and came to a sudden stop. The front of the car was completely submerged. It was very eery. The engine died because of the flooding. It was pitch black, as the headlights were completely submerged. The strong pounding of the rain hit the top of the car, and it sounded like we were in a raft being carried away in white water rapids. Michelle started crying, and I started praying (out loud). We didn't know what to do! I then remembered that the Patterson's lived up the street about 1/2 mile. I thought I could run up there and get help, but I didn't want to leave Michelle alone. She told me she would be fine and that I needed to go, as that was our only hope. I don't remember why she didn't come with me (looking back on it now, I feel really bad that I didn't make her get out and come with me. It wasn't safe for her to stay there by herself.) As soon as I opened the car door, water got into the car. I remember it going up passed my knees when I got out. That was really scary! I thought the water was going to carry me away. I had to hold on the car so the current didn't knock me down. When I was able to get out of the worst part, I started to run. I was so wet I could have rung myself out from any part of my body. Before I even got out of the river of water, I saw two headlights heading towards me. I didn't want Michelle to be there alone with whoever it was, so I started back to the car. As the car approached, I noticed that the headlights were high off the ground. It must have been a big rig or something (is what I thought). When it got closer, I noticed it was a raised truck. He stopped, got out and shouted, "Mike!" Mike! Is that you?" I hesitantly said, "Yes. It's me. Who are you?" I couldn't see who it was, other than the fact that he had a beard. All he said was, "I'm here to help you." I had never seen this guy in my life. How did he know my name? How did he know we were stranded? Without even asking what was wrong or saying another word, he got back in his truck, pulled right through the water (with no problem). He parked his truck about 10 feet in front of Michelle's car. I didn't know what to do, so I got back into the car. Michelle asked, "Do you know him?" "I've never seen him before in my life," I said back. He got out some chain, bent down under the water to hook it up to the car, and then got back in his truck. Michelle and I just kind of looked at each other in disbelief. Before we could say anything to each other, we were pulled through the water. It was so deep, it literally submerged the entire car for a second. When we were out, I got out to thank the guy as he was unhooking the car. He didn't say a word to me, but got back in his truck and took off. It was the weirdest thing. The car had been submerged for a good 1/2 hour before this guy (who neither of us had seen before, but knew my name, AND knew we were stuck) came to bail us out. Michelle turned the key and the car started right up, without any hesitation. We were off to our destination, as we had been saved by some bearded man we never knew, but somehow knew us and was able to get us out.

Whoo... that was longer than I had thought it would be.