Twice Embraced

I spent 12 years as a policeman in New Orleans before I left to become an insurance claims adjuster. It made a huge difference: Not only was my job safer, but I loved the work and was making more money than before. It paid so well, in fact, that eight years ago my wife, Linda, and I were able to buy a new home. We moved in with our son, Brian, on a gorgeous spring afternoon. Everything was right with the world.

The moving company had already come and gone. Later, while we were busy unpacking boxes, I remembered some things I’d left in the car: a folder full of important papers, some jewelry and a gun. When I was a police officer I was required to carry a gun at all times. After I left the force, I no longer carried a weapon, but I liked to have one around for protection, a .25 caliber pistol that I kept in a big envelope.

I walked out the front door and looked at the cloudless sky above my new neighborhood. I couldn’t imagine my life being any better. I got to the car and collected the jewelry and folder, as well as the gun. Carrying it all, I walked up the steps and toward the front door. On the brick porch I tripped and stumbled. As I did, I saw the pistol sliding out of the envelope.

Time seemed to slow. I heard what sounded like a gunshot. That couldn’t have been my gun. The safety lock’s on and the gun’s not cocked. The shot was followed by a harrowing scream.

Suddenly, it was as if a light switch had been flicked off and I was left in pitch darkness. There was no noise. It was as though the world had ceased to exist. Where am I? I wondered.

Vague shapes started forming in front of my eyes. In the dimness I saw a man who looked familiar. With a start I realized I was looking at myself. My body was surrounded by a bright aura.

Was I having an out-of-body experience? That must mean I was dead. No! It can’t be. I saw my arms dangling limply at my sides and my knees beginning to buckle. I was about to collapse.

Before I hit the ground, another form miraculously took shape on the porch. It was a beautiful woman, who stood about six foot six and had shoulder-length blond hair. Her face was the most beautiful I had ever seen. And she too was surrounded by a bright aura.

The woman wrapped her arms around my body and gathered it close to her, embracing me as a mother would cradle a child. I saw my head slump down against her chest and my eyes close.

Continued on page 2: I wasn't dead, but I was watching myself die.... »