Those Moments in Your Life...

[Sigmund]

Good evening.

There are moments in your life that impacted how you saw or understood things differently.

Moments that changed you, good or bad.

I'll start.

I was in fifth grade and our math teacher called us all by our first name. One day while I was leaving the class she said to me (sotto voce), "Have a good day, Cool Breeze." Hhhmm? *Cool Breeze*? I had to think on that one. I'd like to think she meant I was refreshing and a ... good student in her profession teaching students on a difficult subject. Cool Breeze. It just made me feel good/special and inspired to continue to study.

The first time I had to perform CPR on my son. That was really cruddy. I simply could not break down and freak. I had to act. NOW! I learned I was strong and freaking brave. (Not patting myself on the back.)

Little or extreme moments in your life.

Would you please share your moments in life that changed you?

Peace.

 

[pegasus216]

The birth of my daughter, Karen. How my life changed because of her.
The death of my son. I think about him every single day, and wonder what he would have become in life. He was 6 months old when I lost him.
My marriage, and how happy I was. Then that fell apart, and I will never be over him, ever.
Beating the hell out of cancer. That still hasn't sunk in.

 

[SharonC]

The day I was diagnosed with cancer taught me to take life a day at a time, and enjoy each moment. It also taught me not to sweat the small stuff, and that one person's bad mood or complaint will not bring me down anymore. I learned that there are many more nice people in my life than I ever really knew (you guys all know to whom I am referring) and how much kinder people are around me. It has been 14 months now and my last treatments were about 8 months ago. Things are holding steady so far, and I am ever optimistic.

 

[mustangclaire]

The birth of my daughter, Karen. How my life changed because of her.
The death of my son. I think about him every single day, and wonder what he would have become in life. He was 6 months old when I lost him.
My marriage, and how happy I was. Then that fell apart, and I will never be over him, ever.
Beating the hell out of cancer. That still hasn't sunk in.

The day I was diagnosed with cancer taught me to take life a day at a time, and enjoy each moment. It also taught me not to sweat the small stuff, and that one person's bad mood or complaint will not bring me down anymore. I learned that there are many more nice people in my life than I ever really knew (you guys all know to whom I am referring) and how much kinder people are around me. It has been 14 months now and my last treatments were about 8 months ago. Things are holding steady so far, and I am ever optimistic.

Wow. Just wow.

 

[Kurben]

My moments are not quite so astounding as the above but it was important for me. It mas at university. I was 21 or 22. All way thruogh school i had been a loner, laughed at, mocked, sometimes beaten. So i obviously became very suspicious about people. And then came university. A whole new group of people. And i found out that i could make friends, good friends that stuck by. One day we decided to put on a musical show with a historical theme (it is a kind of Tradition for big universitys in sweden that each year do that). But we were stubborn and recruited just out of our own course. I didn't have the main part but i had a part that involved singing, dancing and acting. I was always afraid that I, not the others just me, should be laughed at but both after and during the show people applauded and laughed, not at us but because we were good. It meant a lot for me and helped to be more social and believe in people again. We even made some money out of the enterprise and went on a trip to Sankt Petersburg, Called Leningrad back then, and had a lot of fun.

 

[GNTLGNT]

...the first time I cracked a sternum performing CPR-trying to save a life....

 

[Sundrop]

The life and death of my brother
My daughter's birth
My friendship with JD

 

[Grandpa]

Great subject, Sigs.

Big event: A friend's death, chronicled elsewhere here.

Profound moments: Watching the birth of my children. The heart attack.

Attitude-changing moment: Sliding around a rock face, my fingers gripping a big crack in the rock, my legs hanging out over jagged rocks 100 feet below. I had the thought, "You have a wife and kids at home. What kind of benefit are you getting to justify this risk?" I stopped doing stuff like that.

Event I probably don't give enough thought to that was nevertheless life-changing: Marine boot camp.

Event that was short-lived but profound in its feeling and still brings a warm glow of memory: Bungy-jumping off the Kawarau River bridge. ("Hey! I just overcame my fears to jump off a bridge! I can do anything!")

Small but important junctures in life:
1) A friend saying, "Stop apologizing." It made me aware of how much I was saying, "Sorry," but as I thought about it, on a larger level, I realized that people care about performance a lot more than they do about explanations. My customer service improved dramatically.
2) That same friend saying, "Oh. Jealousy. One of those bad feelings I don't want to have anymore." It brought on a chain of thought that, y'know, I don't have to have destructive feelings that flow from my own imperfections or insecurities. I dropped them, or at least the ones I was aware of.

To those here having to deal with losing people so very close or had to battle life-threatening and frightening illnesses for them or their loved ones, I'm sorry, and you have my admiration and respect.

 

[mjs9153]

Riding in the ambulance,with my brother..his skull appeared misshapen,and blood was drying on his chin and nose area.I looked at him with horror and his eyes were fixed,and he didn't appear to be breathing..the ambulance rode quietly,only lights flashing,into town,and I asked the emt "Is he alive?" She said "I don't know.."

But she did. He was 18.I was 16..

 

[Riot87]

The day i found out i was pregnant with my daughter everyting changed for me. I was not a good person before that i'll just leave it at that but when i found out i was going to have her i had to get my self together. Now shes 3 years old and i havent done anyting bad since then. Also back in Jamaica when i seen my uncle get killed i never really fully trusted anyone after that.

 

[Neesy]

This may sound hokey (because I am not an American) but the day I saw those two towers go down in New York - September 11, 2001.

I had put my release in from the military about a month previous to this. People asked "are you going to cancel your release" but I could not as I had to look after my Dad. Mom had just died suddenly in April 2001 and I had to take care of my father who had severe Alzheimer's.

It was a coincidence I guess but for me it became the beginning of a downward turn that lasted until about the end of 2004 (when I met Andy).

 

[GNTLGNT]

...meeting Tracy...nuff said....

 

[Spideyman]

One that still stands out- the day my neighbor, Virginia, has her stroke. A vibrant, active woman that morning gardening and horseback riding-- a nap-- and the stroke. Thankful she is still with us. The inner Virginia is still there. A strong reminder that life can change in a single heartbeat. Do not take life for granted- ever!

 

[ghost19]

The first time a live round passed near me. Wasn't as loud as I thought it would be, but that high pitched "hiss" was a new experience.

 

[HollyGolightly]

Riding in the ambulance,with my brother..his skull appeared misshapen,and blood was drying on his chin and nose area.I looked at him with horror and his eyes were fixed,and he didn't appear to be breathing..the ambulance rode quietly,only lights flashing,into town,and I asked the emt "Is he alive?" She said "I don't know.."

But she did. He was 18.I was 16..

Heartbreaking, I'm so sorry!

 

[HollyGolightly]

All of you are just amazing with your cancer survival and heart attack survival and all the other things that define you. Group hug!

 

[VultureLvr45]

When I was young, reading Carrie and part way through realizing there was at least one other person on earth that understood my feelings (as a kid in a fundamentalist household). Knowing one other person understood, gave me hope I'd survive to become an adult.

Choosing my 'overall' direction in life, and the first time I 'saw ahead' (vision wise).

The first time I felt a true sense of peace and as if I was enfolded in 'Mother Marys arms (or my Grandmas)..i don't know

 

[Jojo87]

That day when I heard that my grandpa had died. He and my grandma was in Spain when he suddenly got a heart attack when they
had gone to a store to buy food. He died in that store. When the ambulance came it was too late to save him anymore. He died 2005

When my boss called me 4 years ago that was September 2010 and said that I get a permanent job. Before that I had been jobless
most of the time.

This is fairly new, but when my boyfriend came and asked if I want to dance with him and before that I was standing just on the dance floor and
was tired and wanted to go home. Maybe it was a good thing I and my friend did not go away from the bar earlier.

 

[DiO'Bolic]

When my 10th grade English teacher said I would never amount to anything and will probably end up digging ditches, could never get into any college and would be surprised if I even graduated from high school.

Fast forward 40 years. I was visiting the town I graduated high school from and stopped at the local hardware store now owned by a classmate from high school. We were talking for a while and he said “Look, there’s your favorite teacher in the whole wide world.” Mr Y (now retired) came up and my friend said to him “Do you remember this old student of yours?” After all that time he didn’t remember me until we started chatting and I reminded him of some of the problems we had with one another. I reminded him of that one thing he once said to me back in 10th grade. He said he didn’t recall that, that it was a horrible thing to say if he said it, and if he did -- it would have only been to motivate me. I laughed and said “nice try, but the truth is you said it because you were one nasty SOB and you hated me.” But that it actually did have an affect on me. He asked what became of me. I said “Well believe it or not I did graduate high school, got a bachelors degree, and MBA and was a vice president of a corporation." He laughed and said in all his years teaching and since, no one had ever had the guts to tell him "he sucked" to his face until now.

 

[arista]

The moment that I looked upon my son's face when he was first born. It was long time coming and was so relieved that he was healthy baby.