Your most significant life event

[requin]

I think it was definitely falling in love for me. I was in a really bad place and dealing with all sorts of...difficulties when I met my boyfriend, and he has slowly helped me learn to love myself again. I'm not all the way there yet but I'm working on it.

I also hiked across the grand canyon in May 2008 and that was just about the most amazing thing I've ever done. It was incredible and difficult and painful and it really changed my perspective on life.

 

[Rich in KY]

My life altering event happened April 18, 2006. I was at work. I was a store manager of an EBGames in Louisville, KY.

Between noon and one o'clock another store manager came to my store to borrow some supplies. He walked in and I was standing there holding the phone as it was ringing. He asked if I was gonna answer, but I just blankly stared at him. Seconds later, I collapsed. I had a seizure. The seizure was the result of a brain hemorrhage that I was having. The hemorrhage and seizure also caused me to have cardiac and renal failure.

Things did not look good for a while. I have no memories of a 3 day period of my hospital stay. I was in CCU for nearly a week.

After being released from the hospital and going through several CT Scans and MRI's the hemorrhage seemed to be completely healed. It was at this time that my Neurosurgeon told me about the brain aneurysm that was discovered during one of my scans.

I had surgery to fill that in on October 5. The delay was due to Cigna insurance debating whether or not an aneurysm is life threatening or not. You gotta love insurance companies.

But going through all that makes you re-evaluate your priorities.

 

[ceduke]

You left out giving birth! Or getting pregnant, for that matter. But that is not my choice. Everyone does that.

Not everyone! I never will!


Mine is getting married, definitely. I am still shocked that I found someone who loves the crazy in me.

 

[ratsncorns]

I should have chosen the "other" option. I picked graduating college, because it is important!

BUT, what led to my graduation was something that happened in high school. There is so much to tell but here is the quick and dirty.

I got expelled from high school 2 weeks before graduation for setting off a smoke bomb 3 days after Columbine. Oops LOL! At that point in time, I was headed for a military career, which was taken away from me due to this incident. I was charged for mob action, a felony (apparently in IL two people are considered a mob), and reckless conduct. In the end, I was convicted of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor.

If not for that incident, who knows where my military career would have taken me. Certainly not to Colorado, and definitely not here to this very forum.

Story of my life!! And for the better, I think!

 

[Lennycorn]

Being told, I love you like a brother by Lori!!!


That will get me a PM. :grin01:

 

[Kokopelli]

I am still not married nor have children, but I suspect that becoming a father will probably be very significant, if not the most significant event in my life.

I can think of many events that deeply affected me:

1- serving in the army... 3 years packed with too many events to tell about. The army really tears you apart and than you need to rebuild a stronger you- at least that's how it was for me. It forced me to think about life, death, patriotism and the Arab-Israeli conflict... more than anything it made me sad to see so much hate in their eyes and not being able to really blame them because they aren't leading an easy life either, and much of it is because we indeed have to use force to protect ourselves...
What I recall most though, is the death of a good friend with whom I went through tank commanding course... he became an officer and was the tank commander of the tank from which Gilad Shalit(the soldier who was kidnapped and still is in captivity)- he died when their tank was hit... to this day I am not sure if it's a blessing that he died rather than kidnapped... he was truly a remarkable person.

2- My first girlfriend... she was actually a 29 year old woman from the US, who traveled all the way to Israel to be with me(that was when I was 21).
We met online and when I finished my term of service she came here... but living here proved out to be too much for her... there were too many differences... but it was certainly a big experience.

Many other things... finding out my sister has MS, that her husband is dying from cancer... my parent's divorce, and getting into snakes actually... that was a big thing for me.

I have a strong feeling though that as I said before, becoming a father will top every one of the above.

 

[vetusvates]

Oren, I would definitely think the army, especially where you are my man, would be a character-building experience, to say the least. My hat is off to you.

I think we had made the connection a while back about both having a sister with M.S., perhaps I should add that to my list. I will never forget that day, and that telephone call in which she told me, or the first few months afterwards.

I know I am weird, but I am reading everyones' post. Feeling like I know you a little better. I like it that people feel comfortable posting in a thread like this. I am one sentimental sucker.

 

[Nanci]

I saved someone's life once, sort of. It was a very impressive experience for me. I was cave diving with a girlfriend. In a fairly simple cave that we had each dived many, many times. About 100 feet deep. High flow, but pretty routine. We were swimming, not scootering. On the way out, I noticed she was behaving unusually, bumping into the wall, holding the line, flashing her light around. I looked at her closely and saw that her mask was filled with water, and she was not clearing it, and she had her eyes closed. Something was very wrong! I took her by the arm with my right arm. Locked arms with her. I used my left hand to protect her head from hitting the cave celing/wall. As soon as I took a hold of her, she went completely limp and stopped swimming entirely. She was still breathing, but I had no way of knowing what was wrong. I spoke to her reassuringly, "I will get you out of here. I won't let anything happen to you. It's going to be okay." To myself I was thinking, over and over and over "You are not going to die in this cave. You are not going to dive in this cave." I started to exit the cave with her, swimming her along as quickly as I could. I guess we had maybe 500 feet or so to go. 15 minutes. A lifetime. At the end (beginning) of the main line, the flow picked up immensely. I left our O2 bottles and reel that we had used to enter the cave in place (really didn't have much choice) and held her close and protected her head as we got jumbled about through a narrow passage and spit into the cavern. I decided not to decompress since we had been in less than an hour. I took her up as quickly as I thought was safe. At the surface, she began to act normal again, and took off her mask and spoke to me. She said her mask had broken and she couldn't clear it, and she was trying to not cause a big scene, so she was trying to act like nothing was wrong!! When she felt me hold her, she felt it would be best to just go limp and let me take control of everything and bring her out. Thanks for the heart attack!!

 

[Emily1188]

Nanci, I got the chills! Aaaaaaahhhhhh! I've only been scuba diving once (and never cave diving, but one of my greatest anxieties was that when something goes wrong, you can't surface immediately, etc. I really had to push that back to get down there, so your story totally freaks me out! I would be glad to have you as a diving buddy.

I'm turning 21 this Sunday, and quite confident my most important life event hasn't happened yet. Lots more to go in my life.

 

[Chip]

Hmm. I've never been married or divorced, no kids, fought in a war, or *really* got religion. I have graduated, been laid, fallen in love, broken up from that, had accidents and one illness, lost some friends and family members and been through some crazy times. I've seen someone get shot dead within feet of me, had a fistfight in college when the guy hit the ground hard and seizured from a punch, met some friends I love like family, put one certain dog down I loved more than I could explain here, opened a construction business, found out a girlfriend was on an Internet dating website while she lived in my house, got another dog that turned out to be really special, opened a pet store... off the top of my head. I really don't know my "most significant" life event. A lot has changed my life and the way I live. And crappy as some things were, most of it changes you for the better -if you tend to make good life choices. A few things, like losing loved ones (or animals) before their time just plain stinks.

 

[vetusvates]

Wow! Nanci! Good going and great story.
You have a cool head, lady friend.

 

[jenneses]

I chose "I have no life". I've had life experiences that have shaped who I am, but I can't really choose one which fell into any category. I've never been married, never had children, never had any "real" life-threatening events, or anything like that. None of my life events seem more "significant" than others. They are all part of the whole that formed my current self.

 

[snakewispera snr]

I've had a long hard think about this to think of just one significant life changing event..
Lots of significant things have happened to me from escaping from a bad fire where I thought that this was my time, to rushing to hospital from work in time to see my wife go into theatre for brain surgery. I've sat with my kids in hospital got married watched child birth etc etc.... All of them significant but not exactly life changing significant....
I think the most significant life changing event for me was realising my little kids had grown up and were adults, no longer relying on me and had their own lives and thoughts and were no longer tagging along with me, I was tagging along with them....

 

[ratsncorns]

I also wanted to add that my little stunt put me on the front page of the Chicago Tribune (my claim to fame). AND the school put up security cameras, and hired a full time police officer. I had to finish my last two weeks of high school at one of those alternative schools for troubled teens... boy did that suck.

They even brought the bomb squad, dogs and all! It wasnt funny at the time, but it is to me now LOL

Dean.. I am BAD news LOL!! I have all sorts of stories...

 

[LBoz]

Being told, I love you like a brother by Lori!!!


That will get me a PM. :grin01:

Bahahahaaa! I didn't even see this until I had to go back to see Angela's original story. Yes, Len...you're like my little "special" brother. Now go strap on your helmet and play. :laugh:

Angela, dang girl, what were you thinking? You are so sweet and quiet and angelic in person...I can't even imagine you have that much "gangsta" in you! LOL!

 

[Nanci]

I also wanted to add that my little stunt put me on the front page of the Chicago Tribune (my claim to fame).

I can _so_ picture you doing that. You have a devilish look in your eyes...I bet you'd touch an alligator with me!!

 

[kathylove]

Wow! So many important events...

Hard to pick out just one, or even just a few.

Meeting and getting to know hubby might be THE most important. I never expected to find anyone who would love all of my animals AND me, too!

The first time I met him, I had a traveling reptile exhibit in the '70s that I ran with a partner. Bill wandered in when we were in Mobile, Al. He was with a friend, and hardly said a word.

Then we met him again a few months later, in W. Palm Beach, Fl, near where he lived. We were at a herp society meeting and he was a budding photographer, giving a slide show at the meeting. We were so impressed that we went to his place to see his animals, and then offered him a job to travel with us.

The third time we met was a few weeks later when he came to work for us. Within a few days, I was talking to my family up north, telling them how impressed I was, how much I loved listening to his voice, and that I even thought he could be "THE ONE". The rest is history - we just celebrated our 30th anniversary last March.

 

[whippet]

I never expected to find anyone who would love all of my animals AND me, too!

Truer words were never spoken. This is a life altering moment for sure.

 

[Nanci]

Truer words were never spoken. This is a life altering moment for sure.

If it sticks...Obviously, in Kathy and Bill's case, it has. For most of us, you just never know.

 

[desertanimal]

Wow, Nanci! That whole friend-limp-in-your-arms thing would scare the bejeesus out of me (and I don't even have any bejeesus IN me!)! Intense!