The Friend I Almost Lost Is Me.

by Rev. R.L.Moncriffe, II
(Baker, LA USA)

I truly understand that instructions are to write about someone else, but this is the closest I could come to in regard to telling you whom I almost lost.

Firstly, being the pastor of a church, I understand very well what it means to minister to individuals and families in this regard. And sometimes I can even know exactly what they're going through.

However this is not about a loss, but an "almost lost"; When an "almost lost" takes place, the signs of grief can be just as apparent as the actual death occurrence. I believe this, because I now experience these signs- these moments of grief.

About two years ago, I suffered two heart attacks. I suppose that in and of itself may not seem to be as dynamic as other actual accounts, but until 2007, I had never had a heart attack, so to me it was actual.

The interesting thing about my near death was that the attacks happened within four days of each other. At first I simply treated this experience as a sickness I suffered,(not a life altering event). But as time marched on, I would find myself, at the reading, hearing, viewing, even thinking about lost life, crying uncontrollably.

I didn't die, but I almost did. It was real and so is my grief. I'm trying to control it on my own without telling my wife, because she'll get worse than me. I pray, I sing to myself, and I play piano; these things help, and oddly, little children do too.