Close Calls with Death

In today's segment of Reflections and Musings, I am thankful that I have lived as long as I have. In hindsight, I've had several close calls with death from in my younger days. I consider myself lucky to be alive today.

Here are my close calls:

As a teenager, I had a ruptured appendix, because the symptons were not diagnosed correctly. I spent a few weeks in the hospital and took about three months to recover. If I had born a generation earlier, I might not be alive today

In my twenties, I was the passenger in a car that ran off a 4 foot embankment at fifty miles per hour. The car flipped on its top and slid for several hundred feet. Everyone walked away with barely a scratch.

Also in my twenties, I had an allergic reaction to seafood while at a sports tournament. Luckily, one of my teammates decided my condition was serious and called an ambulance. The emergency room pumped me full of adrenalin, eliminated the swelling, and probably saved my life.

In my early thirties, I was training for a marathon and was barely missed being hit a car, by only fractions of a second. In another instant, I would have been run over and under the car.

I sometimes think about these incidents to remind myself that no one ever knows when one's time is over. Therefore, while I make plans for living to our nineties, I also am thankful for and enjoy every day that I have now, because I know that I am already lucky to have made it this far.

For more on Reflections and Musings , check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial or life advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

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