So young, as this young man realized the purpose of his life, with his, close encounter with D-E-A-T-H, these near-death experiences DO change a person’s perspective that’s for certain! Translated…
It’s just, like any other ordinary day, the morning sun came into my bedroom, I’d leaned over, and wake up my son who’s in the second year of high school. On this day, something seemed to be wrong with him, he’d frowned at me, as he patted his chest, said, “My heart hurts”, must’ve been from the stresses of his school work, so I wasn’t, that alarmed.
But, for the sake of security, I’d taken him to the hospital, just to be safe. After some examinations, the doctor used that boosting tone of voice, told me, “Mom, you don’t need to worry that much, but the problem with his heart is changing too fast, he’d needed to check into the I.C.U.”, I was, so shocked and scared, my son started crying, I’d, become so, flustered, and my husband, forced on that strong front, held my son’s hands tightly.
And, because this hospital didn’t have the intensive care unit for children (until before this, I’d not known, that high school students still belonged to the pediatric department), we’d gotten on the ambulance for the transfer to another hospital, it was, too scary! We’d, rushed into another hospital, my son was, pushed into the I.C.U. on the stretchers, the doctors, nurses rushed up toward him, it felt so surreal, like it was, a scene, out of a movie. The two of us, sat, dumbfounded, time froze up. The doctor came out, to explain to us, and, issued a critical conditions notice, and, our hands that felt like a thousand tons, signed our squiggly names on the papers.
He was in the I.C.U. for observations for an entire week, and thankfully, it was, only scary, that there wasn’t, any harm that’s come to him. As we’d gone to visit him, there were, the newborns who were, fighting for their lives in the incubators, crying loudly, there were also, older children who’d cried out in pain for their mama, and, that mother kneeled by the bed, held on tightly, to her young child’s hands. Watching her backside, she’d kneeled, and leaned toward her precious child, looked like a faithful believer, begging god for a blessing, and for mercy. I’d turned to look at my own son, his eyes were, watching all his roommates, I’d held tightly to his hands, and, he’d looked back at me, with that gaze of gratitude and mercy.
He was almost in his last year of high school. I was originally worried over him, but, as he was preparing for his exams, and even, on the day of the exams, I saw a different side of him. There wasn’t, that low air pressure that’s hovered over him, no angst or anxieties, just that step-by-step, slow, sense of calm about him, and, even as he was taken his math exams, he was, very calm, like a monk (whereas as his older brother took the math portion of the exams, he kept going to the restrooms).
As the grades were posted out, he’d applied for the majors, already knew which direction he wanted to take in life, he’d filled out the forms, and gone to the counselors’ office, to practice for the entrance interviews. He said, that his short-term goals were to enter into educational psychology department to study, and that he wanted to become either a counselor, or a writer in the future, through the practicalities, combined with the theories, he’d hoped, that he could, soothe the aching, injured minds of others.
Strange, how come my son seemed to have become, a totally different person? Recalling, it seemed, that everything started changing from the morning with his heart aching. Feeling still kinda scared, I’d started believing, that that day was, the turning point in his life.
So, how was he able to stick to his plan? He, who enjoyed writing, wrote a poem, with the stanza of “You Only Have, Each and Every Breath You Take Right Now”. Oh, I get it now, because of this illness that came so suddenly, it’d forced him to think about the matter of life and death early. And so, from the outside looking in, he’s still, a young man, but, he’s actually, an old soul, who’s so wise. He’d understood, that life is from breath to breath, nobody knows how much life is left, so, he should open up his heart, and do the more meaningful things in life.
After he’d faced death in the eyes, the entrance exams became, less painful to him. Life isn’t perfect, and, in every hardship we’d faced, there’s the need, for that warm pair of hands that offered help, or a shoulder he could, lean on, and so, this had, helped him to find his own calling. He’d found a way, to make his own life meaningful, in the I.C.U. he’d, had his close encounter with death, and, he’d, found a brand new life for himself.
Imagine how much this young man must’ve weathered through, for him, to realize what his calling in life was, and at that young too. Because of this near-death experience, he’d reset the values of his own life, and now, he’d set a goal, and is, working toward his dreams of helping others, so that, is one of the good things that came from this, near-death experience of this teenager.