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Dr Yvonne Kason – Farther Shores

A man I'll call Jonathan describes his own close call.

I was driving home from college, after a dormitory party, rather late one evening. I was really tired, probably too tired to drive safely-but I often sped and drove recklessly.

I was racing along the deserted highways in my fiberglass-bodied sports car, rushing to get home and into bed.

The rain was drizzling and the roads were slippery.

Unexpectedly, I lost control of my car as I approached a cement underpass, I must have been going close to 100 miles per hour at the: time I knew instantly' that I had absolutely no hope of surviving the impact. At the speed I was going, the fiberglass body could crumple completely.

As my car spun out of control, I saw my life flash before my eyes. I saw myself with my father, walking along the beach when I was about, five years old. Then I saw myself playing with my brother up at the cottage. In the next scene I saw my mother sewing me a new jacket one Christmas. Another was my high school graduation party. More and more scenes like this flashed before my eyes. As I watched these events, I felt as if I was out of my body, floating above my car. Abruptly my car came to a stop at the far end of the underpass. By some miracle it had crashed into a metal railing and totally missed the cement abutment. Then just as suddenly, I was back in my body again, totally in the present.

I knew that I had just narrowly missed dying. I felt humbled and sobered by the experience .I realized that my life was very .precious, and that I should be treating myself with more care. From that day I quit speeding and driving recklessly. I had been badly shaken by the close call I'd had and by the realization that I had come so close to death.