I became very ill with spinal meningitis when I was 19 years old.  I was in a coma for 5 days.  I was told that the priest came in to read me my last rites, as I was unresponsive and dying.

This is what I remember:

I felt conscious but it wasn't as part of my known reality.  I felt wonderful and such great peace.  I had no sense of a body, and no thought that I was in a "weird" state.  It was just natural.  I didn't think about anyone or anything except for the beautiful way I felt in the moment.  It seemed like I was just floating around without any form in an expansive reality where everything was the same thing, all connected.  I was just part of everything.  I didn't really have a sense of "me," I think. I was everything and everything was me.  There was just "one."

I did not have any thoughts about my "real" life or any sense of going back there.  It was wonderful!

Then, in the deep recess of my consciousness I heard my name.

I didn't pay any attention to it or do anything, just continued to enjoy the freeness I felt. 

Then I heard it again a little louder and thought, "What is that?" 

The I heard it again and made out the sound of my mother's voice calling my name.  I didn't really want to hear it because I wanted to stay where I was.  But then I heard her say, "Sharen, Alfie needs you so much."

Alfie was my baby.  He was 8 months old.  I totally forgot I had a baby.  But then, after hearing my mother's voice say his name a few times, I was like, "Omg, Alfie!  I have to go back."

Then, right after I said that, I felt a huge "swoosh," like being sucked by a vacuum, and I was sucked back into my body.

I opened my eyes and turned my head toward the voice.  My mother was sitting next to my hospital bed.  She started crying. 

I'd chosen to go back.  I always remember the beautiful way I felt.  It has never left me, or the "oneness" I feel with all of creation.