My NDE happened when I was 18 years old—the summer before my freshman year of college. I was enrolled at a University in Florida and had two summer jobs, lots of friends and dated heavily. I rarely slept and "burned the candle at both ends." As a result, I succumbed to mononucleosis for the second time. (I supposedly had it before when I was 6 or 7 years old. Some doctors believe that it never completely goes away)

I was hospitalized with an extremely high temperature and my throat and airways were almost completely swollen closed. I remember my mother telling me that I had to drink a large amount of water very quickly or I would die. I was apparently "out of it" (delirious.) I remember drinking the water and feeling/hearing a whooshing sound. Then I heard the sound of trumpets or some kind of horns making a pretty noise but not playing melodic music. I saw an extremely bright tunnel of light going up to the right with darker figures in it. I wasn't afraid. I remember thinking "I drank the water; I'm not supposed to die, but this is kind of cool." Then I whooshed back.

The next time I woke up my mother said I had broken my fever and my white blood cell count was better. I could barely hear anything because my ears were still affected. Everything was very muffled. All I wanted to do was sleep. I don't remember much about what happened next except that I refused to stay home and miss my freshman year like I had planned. We lived about 300 miles away from the University, about a five-hour drive. Because I was still so sick, my parents only drove a few hours and stopped so that I could rest. The doctor said I could attend college, but I wasn't supposed to get over tired or I would get sick again.

I more or less completely forgot about my NDE at that time because I was so sick and busy trying to go to classes. My hearing still was not normal, and I wanted to sleep all the time, so I almost flunked out my first month. I slowly recovered and began to ask my mother questions about when I was in the hospital. I asked her if I almost died, and she remembered me having to drink the water, but she had four younger children to care for and really didn't have time or interest in talking about it.

At that time, I had never heard about NDEs. I never thought about it until several years later when I read or saw something on TV about them. There are a few beliefs that have come into my mind about my life that I don't know from whence they came. They came after my NDE, but I don't remember an entity or my being "told" in words about them.

From college on, I always knew that I would be very close to a little girl. I thought at first it would be my stepdaughter from my first marriage, but we were only close when she was little. Then I thought it would be my own daughter(s), but God gave me identical twin girls, who sort of shut me out because they were so close to each other. Because of the way things happened, I was given the opportunity to raise my granddaughter almost from birth. We are extremely close. As far as I know now, I always knew she was coming. I have an ability to communicate or relate to animals. I was also very successful in my teaching career and was able to help many inner-city students. I also enjoy success in Community Theater.

I seem to have some inner ability or psychic powers. There are times when I just know what is going to happen. I have correctly "called” 12 cards in a row at a black jack table...both the suit and value. There are many other times when I just knew what was going to happen. (My daughter wouldn't die after the doctors said she would is only one of them.)I attribute my "unusual abilities" to my NDE, because, in looking back on the way things happened, I was always afraid, timid and shy as a child.

During and after college (and my NDE), I became self-confident and unafraid. I think it was because I now know for sure that there is something beyond death. My time to "pass over" will come when it is supposed to. Why be afraid? I try to enjoy each minute. I didn't realize why or that I had changed until I found out that others had experienced NDEs similar to mine.