I had my NDE on March 24th, 2016. Holy Thursday. My older sister by two years was fighting a losing battle with breast cancer and it was very hard to watch it punish my parents. I had developed severe LPR heartburn through stress eating. I was going in for an ENT scope and a colonoscopy. My doctor wanted to check for ulcers and the colonoscopy was just a bonus as I was 46 and had never had one done.

The bowel prep worked too well and I became severely dehydrated. The nurse took her time hooking up the saline drip. Five minutes after she put the IV in, my heart stopped. My soul immediately left my body and went through the wall to my left. The room was dark and I was in a chair. A being behind me began clicking images from my life through my brain really fast like a slide projector. The slide show stopped at four times in my life where I was being encouraging to people. At each moment I was launched back in time and into the event. 

The first event was when I was 25. I was encouraging a new hire who had taken a lesser job under me, but it would give him a lot more room for future growth. He was worried he had made a mistake. I could smell the propane exhaust from his forklift. We were in the Southwest corner of the warehouse that I ran at the time. Bill is still a friend of mine and has had a nice career in sales.

The second one was me and a neighbor kid when I was 9. My neighbor was bummed because his parents worked all the time and didn't have the time to spend with him. It was the summer of ‘78 and it was hot as hell outside. He was wearing his yellow Chevy Luv Truck tank top and I could smell the banana sun tan lotion we had on. The colors of summer were so brilliant.

The third was when I met my best friend. We were 6 and in the first grade. Mark transferred in from another school and well..., it just sucks being the new kid. We all know that. Well, I was nice to him and he became my best man 22 years later. We were in the playground of our old grade school.

The fourth event was me encouraging a freshman at college to stay in school. I was a sophomore. He was socially backwards and struggled with that part of college. He stayed and earned a graduate degree from Cornell years later. We were standing in his dorm room on a Friday and I started to hear the nurse say, "Mike, Mike, Mike." She was giving me CPR and as I went back through the wall to my right, the Being said, "More of this!"

When I opened my eyes, I felt euphoric. I wanted to jump for joy but I could clearly see the dismay in everyone's face. The IV got ripped out, my wife was crying, and the nurse was emotionally drained. They wheeled me over to the ICU of Blanchard Valley Hospital in Findlay, Ohio.  Again, still severely dehydrated and no saline drip yet. I felt like I was running on pure unconditional love. Just then a lady who was in a car crash was wheeled in next to me. She had been choppered in. They could not save her. I knew her soul was gone when she came in. They finally got the liquids going into me and I could feel myself become "normal" again. I took three bags before I urinated.

They kept me overnight and ran a crap ton of tests. They found nothing. I was so hungry. I went to work the next week after a very surreal Easter Sunday. I did not tell my wife until several months later. My sister died the following December when it got into her brain. It crushed my parents. My brother in law and nieces were so calm. They had seen the ravages of cancer and knew Kris was in a much better place and so did I.

The retrospect has been the hardest part. Trying to piece the clarity of the next world with the confusion of this world is very hard. I assure you, this world is the bizzarro world. This is where lies are truth and truth, lies. This is where kindness is punished and hurtfulness Is rewarded. Not so in the next reality.

I do not feel heaven is in the sky. It gets depicted that way because our bodies are so heavy and our soul feels like it rises when it leaves this boat anchor. I have lost 20 lbs since my NDE and have come to detest my body. It is such a chore to take care of. But, it's our vehicle in this world.  

At first, I thought the Being was The Holy Spirit. My Catholic teachings probably led me to that. But as I thought it over 100 times, I think it was more like an angel/messenger. I think it was younger than me. A bit awkward too. I think it knew there was little time to get me this message of how important encouragement is. You can really change the world with little effort. I was surrounded by talented medical people. No way I was gonna die that day. The nurse did ask me later when I got to my room if my chest hurt. I said, "No. Why?" She told me she'd had really wailed on me during CPR and was surprised a rib wasn't broke. I felt on top of the world for days after.  

As the years go by, my NDE takes on an even deeper meaning. I draw on it often. I have no desire to go back but I have zero fear of death. The day we die, we are all the same. Wealth and position do not matter. You do not take those with you. However, our memories of sound, sight and smell do indeed exist in the next world. I suggest loading up those vaults. I have music on all the time now.  

The year that followed my sister's death brought a huge personal challenge to my wife and me. I believe I was visited and warned of events by my sister. My wife and I became true partners the following year. Without my NDE and visits from my sister, I don't know if my marriage would have made it through.