Play-02a
I haven’t yet seen a subject in the Daily Prompt that inspired me. But today’s did.
A quick aside, I’m not in pain today, Yeah!
When I was about 16, an incident occurred where I could have been murdered.
What was I doing at that age in such circumstances?
My friend, Jill, and I had gone out for our usual Friday or Saturday night fun, which, for us, always involved drinking. Somehow we had connected with an older woman. She had been having us to her apartment for drinks, and we were more than happy to visit her.
This particular night, her boyfriend came by. At first, I didn’t pay him much attention.
It turns out he was drunk, and an extremely unreasonable person.
He became jealous of my friend and I being at this woman’s house. Initially, I just thought, what an idiot.
Then he got out his gun. OMG.
He held it to my head and threatened to kill me. I don’t quite recall his reasoning for this, but he was determined.
All I can recall is the woman begging and pleading with him to not shoot me.
Obviously, he changed his mind. But what I really recall, is that it took a really long time to change his mind.
What blows my mind about this incident is that it didn’t really affect either me or my friend. I don’t recall either of us talking about what had happened. Why we weren’t scared to death is beyond me now.
In fact, it was not until I was in my late 20’s that I even thought about this incident again.
This scares me a lot.  When I was younger, I thought I was so cool and together. I had such intolerance for just about everybody and everything unless it fit into my box of coolness.
Just exactly how cool is a person who gets into a situation where a loaded gun is pointed at her head by a drunk, crazy man?
I continued down this particular road of beliefs into my 30’s. Then I got hit by a bolt of lightning and woke up.
I came to understand how much broader life could be, and know that there was a God. There had to be. Who had looked out for me all those years while I ran around like a crazy person?
I’m so grateful that I was able to realize who I am and that love is what is important in life, not who or what a person is.
I find that putting love first, will always lead me in the right direction. Of course, this is not easy, and I often back step. But I believe my path of life, and it looks like many other experience this, is two steps backwards for every three steps forward.
Writing about this makes me really grateful to be alive.
So, Love to all of you this holiday season.
Kerry C. Mitchell's Adventures 
Hi Kerry!
This is one of those emails (my reply) that I remembered sending after a few days went by, with dawning horror that I really sent it!
The only excuse I can give is that I’ve been really depressed, and really, it’s better not to send anything when like this! Sorry!
I LOVE your post on FB about love-thinking rather than fear-thinking. I appreciate that you posted it.
Keep your beautiful art coming–I love to see what you create!
Take good care of you, Leigh
LikeLike
I saw that post on my newsfeed, and felt I just needed to share it. Love is what is important. Fear puts us in a hole. It is sometimes so hard to be loving. It is so easy to fall into fear. I’m so glad it was good for you to see it.
LikeLike
Hi Kerry,
I hope you had a great Christmas and am glad you had no pain (YAY!!).
OMG, when I read this post, I just thought how uncanny it is with how much I relate to you! There is a God, and by golly, I look back and see His protection. I hope you don’t mind if I tell you. I don’t talk much about it either, and I see the memories from the point of view of floating above all of them. I think it is good that you wrote it out and shared it. I really believe that getting it out somehow, even if not fully, takes away the subconscious power it may have over us and overcome having been victimized.
Also, I love your art! It occurred to me today that some of them would be magnificent prints for fabric, too. One of my sisters used to sell her art patterns to fabric companies.
I was recently thinking of these 4 things below because I spoke with an employee of Dick’s Sporting Goods, a former AZ police officer back in Dick’s gun department, who had worked on several serial murders at Pizza Hut restaurants in AZ where there were no survivors.
(1) My friend and I were held at gun-point for an hour or so in a canyon by a man pretending to be a forest ranger when I was about 12 (ugh–around the time Ted Bundy was in Utah). She was in shock and sat shaking and moaning, and I was molested and talking the whole time (he kept telling me to shut up or he’d kill me, but I babbled even more about his needing help and how my family had gotten psychiatric help, haha!! I gave him names of psychiatrists!!). Turns out he was a serial rapist and murderer, I am his only known living victim, and he was never caught. I didn’t tell the police he had molested me, the FBI questioned me and got it out of me, and because I didn’t tell them right away (I was SO embarrassed!), the FBI could not be involved in the case unless he had touched me, and the dude got away. I SO thought of it like you described, totally unafraid (except very concerned about my friend), until I thought of it recently.
(2) I walked into a Pizza Hut during an armed robbery. All employees were in a bathroom tied up and naked, and patrons on the floor face-down. When pulling into the Pizza Hut, I almost hit a car coming out recklessly. It was one of two “get-away” cars, and I had a description. Turns out, they were most likely serial robbers but they usually murdered everyone in the Pizza Hut–there were too many people in there the day that I went in. I learned this from the retired police officer in Dick’s.
(3) A friend and I waiting by an elevator in a Hilton Hotel, part of 35+ people in a singing group, waiting to be escorted through a casino to the showroom (we were underage), were kidnapped by a man with a gun in the elevator–I got away and he was spooked and hid my friend in the laundry room, and the police later found her there.
(4) Last but not least, I was at my dad’s in Elko, NV, when about 12 years and went for a drive with my step-uncle who was 16. We were in a head-on accident where I flew through the windshield and dented the metal dash with my knees. All of the people involved including 2 children with their mom in the other car were fine and walked away. 4 years later, my step-uncle came to me and asked my forgiveness as he was taking me to a remote place to rape me except we crashed!
Anyhow, there are more weird things, but in my 20’s I realized I seemed to attract weirdness with strangers, and learned to walk differently, change my demeanor when out and about, pay attention to what is around me, and listen to my gut. God definitely blesses drunks and fools, of which I was both!
Sorry to go on and on–this hit a real chord with me 🙂
I hope you have a wonderful New Year, Kerry! Keep up the good work!
XOXO Leigh
LikeLike
Leigh, What an amazing story(ies). Wow, I’m blown away. God definitely wants you here on earth with us. I’m so sorry you were molested. You are one brave lady You have a good New Year.
LikeLike
Happy Christmas Kerry.
This accident was scary event for your soul. It started to suffer and covered deeply inside of you over years. Releasing your wounds brings your body pain release.
Let love be with you always, as well gratitude for the understanding of life and forgiveness for those who do not know what they do to children or teenagers on their future adult life
LikeLike
Thank you Ewa. Merry Christmas.
LikeLike
It’s weird how two people can have different perspectives and experiences. I never went out drinking when I was that young. I still don’t. But I made some bad choices in love. When I did put love first nothing ever worked out for me. When I finally ended a bad relationship everything began to work for me.
LikeLike
Merry Christmas to you 🙂
LikeLike