Chance Happens

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Archive for category life + death

Mary J. and I Cheat Death

Feb 1

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One hot summer in New York City. Mary and I were invited to The Black Expo. We were so excited because everyone was talking about how much fun they had there. We both wanted to get DJ Clue’s mixed CD. At that time all mixed tapes were on cassette tapes so this was revolutionary to us. I wanted Mary to see all the different vendors maybe we could make a few
music connections for her music interests. It was Fire we had a blast we met DJ Clue He signed our CD’s and he was fine,too. We watched his big smile and both got weak in the knees. We walked away like lotto winners. We stopped bought some signs, that were fashioned after those baby on board car placuw. They said “Your Cute” , “Call Me” ,Your A Ten”, and so on. After a long day at the expo we went to meet my cousin, Carlos and his friend Jon Goddy by Willy Bugers on 8th Ave.

Cars were lined up, up and down 145th St. Every car was blasting the Angie Martinez Show. I scream that my song. I then got out the car at the red light and danced around my car, Hundreds of people cheered at me and Mary yelled “Dorian Get Your Ass in the Car” She went on to say that that was the most embarrassing thing anybody ever in front of her. I laughed and told her to relax and the fun had just begun. We met my cousin in front of the Projects on 8th Ave. So Mary and I announce, “its so hot lets go get somethin’ to drink.”

We come out of the corner bodega and get halfway across the street and we look up and 2 speeding cars are headed straight at us. We look at each other and both scream at the top of our lungs. I then say ” Mary hold my hand and don’t move” we both stood frozen on the double yellow line as the two cars go by us so fast it almost sweeps us off our feet. We were in the middle of the two cars as they both passed swiping us ever so lightly and miraculously we survived unscathed. WE ran across the street and hugged my cousin for dear Life. Someone yells “YO Alpo and his man were drag racing”. I then say “Mary we need to go take our asses Back to Yonkers and call it a nite”. On the way home Mary picks up the cards we bought at the Expo and starts flashing car on the west side highway. I laugh a guy pulls up next to us with a mouth full of gold teeth and its Flava Flav in a Red Acura just like mine. We look at each other and scream,aaahhh. He laughs at us and we drive home silent, exhausted and happy to be alive…

Without question one of the Kraziest Things That Happened By Chance.

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“Witness To War”

Jan 28

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This note comes from Howard Dorf.

I was a TV Network & US Govt. combat cameraman for over twenty years. I have witnessed the reality of war from a unique perspective. I am pictured & included in Peter Arnetts book “Live From The Battlefield.”

I am now 56 years old & suffering from prolonged PTSD which has destroyed my life.  I live day to day on meds. & social security. Most of my close friends were killed in combat covering world events. I have a Registered Service Dog for comfort & companionship. What more can I say.

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his life was taken but they brought him back

Jan 19

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my son at the age of 3 was in a horrible DUI accident with his father who is now serving 36yrs because of his wrong doing. My baby at the age of 3 so young and innocent was with his father on court ordered time his father decided it would be ok to drink and drive.

On nov 24, 2007 in lakewood, co they were involved in a head-on collision my son was found under the drivers seat unresponsive. when medics arrived i was told they brought him back and rushed him to the hospital where he was rushed to emergency surgery. 13 hours later my son’s face was put back together. He was diagnosed with a severe closed head injury to his front left lobe of his brain as well as the back of his brain, crushed spleen, fractured jaw, and hundreds upon hundreds of stitches to bring his face back together.

when we went through trial i heard all the witnesses testify and every last one of them said that there was no way to identify my son my looking at his face. they used the example of it looked like ground hamburger. There is alot more to this story and i would love to come wide open with it as a true story and hope that people will learn from it and see that life is not a joke and that the only ones that get hurt are the innocent children usually because of stupidity. My son’s dad let him down it was his job to protect him and keep him safe and he did the opposite. Now because of all this it has turned our lives upside down. Its still a battle to this day because of my sons brain injury and getting him all the help he needs to function as a normal child in school as well as with other children. He also remembers everything up to the accident and bits and pieces of working with the medics. hes a strong brave little boy and I would live to share his story

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ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome)

Jan 10

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I never imagined going through this until it happened. 10 years ago I was the 1st person in Denver to survive a rare lung disease called ARDS. 4 mths in coma, 6 chest tubes later and a whole lot more, I gained more valuable knowledge about life than I could have in 10 healthy lives without that experience. I know see things in a whole new manner and appreciate each moment. To boot, a love story meant to be, I met my soul mate this year, now realizing our lives could have crossed several times in the last 5 years. Thank you for reading my blip story.

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Guardian Angel

Dec 31

Posted by tdomf_3594f in life + death | No Comments

14 years ago, my husband nearly lost his life in a terrible motorbike accident, how he didn’t is beyond belief. December 23rd of this year my 16-year-old son flipped his car on the highway. He finished up with his head hanging out of the driver’s window, the car upside down after it had skidded down the road on the roof. By rights both my husband and my son should be dead. No one can tell me that they were not being looked after by some one or something. There is definitely an angel looking out for both of them.

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A September to forget.

Dec 23

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In September 2007 my father passed away at age 45- healthy ,young, a freak incident the doctor said. I drove home to plan the funeral. Mom in bad shape-hospitalization-very very bad. I was driving back to my home for work 3 days later, when just as I was passing exit 100 a drunk driver was pulling a tractor trailer, the wrong way down an off ramp on the interstate. He hit me head on before I even knew what had happened. Then everything was black. I woke to fire, screaming, smoke and sirens. I was in a car with my pet. The car was totalled, and on fire- I had major injuries but was alive- pet was fine. Man thought he had killed me because I was not moving after accident- he fled the scene, people chased him down- and he later shot himself. I had to file a law suit to get my surgeries for my injuries. And then another because my grandparents and fathers family decided they wanted my inheritance from my family…and the family based business-we are now estranged and in a court battle. So then I get a rental car to drive back to my home for surgeries, the rental car they gave me for some reason had a nail in the tire and I almost had a blow out on the interstate-( a trucker saved me thankfully)- but it still had a flat in the middle of no -where – so I was stranded….I finally go back to my home and get in a 3 month long battle with the insurance company over paying for my surgeries,it is intense. I cannot breathe properly without the surgeries. I’m in physical therapy. Bones are re-broken. When I finally do get them I have a severe reaction to the codeine (turns out I am allergic) and I become very-very ill and have an allergic reaction- back in the hospital. It takes a few years to recover from the surgeries, one law suit is done, after a year, I still don’t have a car, the other law suit for my fathers estate is still going on after over 2 years. My nerves are finally back. This is a true story.

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Waiting for me

Dec 15

Posted by tdomf_3594f in life + death | No Comments

On February 19, 2002 my father called me to discuss my mother’s declining health. He told me that the nurses had informed him that she would pass away in the next few months. I felt so bad about this, and all the pain she had been put through because of Alzheimer’s and breast cancer, I started praying at 9:30pm that she be freed and allowed to go home.

Later on that evening, around 3 in the morning, the telephone started ringing. I was in a deep sleep in which I was dreaming that I was sitting in a red convertible next to my mother who was driving. She had long flowing hair, and was smiling as she drove. We kept driving to try and find the right place she had to go to die.

I finally heard the telephone and awoke to answer it. It was my father who called to say my mother was dying and that I needed to come from Washington DC to Minnesota as soon as possible.

I made my travel arrangements and drove to work to take care of a few things on the way to the airport. During that time, the care facility called me to see what time I would be arriving and to let me know, not much time was left. I asked them to put the telephone to my mother’s head so she could hear. Once that was done, I told her that I was her daughter, and that I was coming to see her and I asked her to wait.

While on the airplane, I went to the flight attendant to ask if my seat could be moved closer to the door because of the situation. After she checked with the captain, I was moved by the door, and the airplane crew had other folks wait until I got off the plane. For some reason, the plane also ended up at the closest gate to the rental cars.

The rental facility got me through their process in under 10 minutes which allowed me to drive quickly to the care facility. When I arrived, I did not know what I would find, my mother still alive, or that she had passed away.

As I approached her room, the nursing staff saw me and escorted me down. They told me for some reason the dying process stopped, that they had never seen anything like it, and that for a time, she was holding her own. My mother had waited for me before passing away.

I am still struck to this day with the fact that my mother heard me, and waited for me. What a great gift.

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