When have you felt most thankful to be alive.

[checkeredhat]

For all the bad memories and emotions I now associate with her, the last moment I can recall feeling truly most grateful to be alive was a very late night laying on a hill watching the stars with my then-girlfriend.
Corny sounding and predictable, maybe. But true. I really can't say I've felt quite like that before or since, and I hope that changes.

 

[Officer_Charon]

Nothing corny about it, CH.

One of the times that stands out for me was back in California, staying out late at night with a girl I was crushing HARD on at the time (but who had no interest). We were good friends, though, and one night out at her house, in the boondocks, we stayed out on her trampoline, looking at the clear night sky at the stars and discussing philosophy.

I'd love to be doing that again - haven't had a good discussion like that in years....

 

[Azurephoenix]

Near Death: I had a botched tonsilectomy operation when I was about 14 and the wounds that they sealed got infected and slowly bled over the course of a few days. I couldn't taste it and had no idea that I was basically bleeding straight into my stomach until one day I gagged on a giant blood clot and puked blood all over. By the time I got to the hospital I was going into shock from blood loss (coughing up that yummy blood jello ripped open what little was stemming the blood flow) and to make matters worse they were severely short staffed that night and the doctors had to press my dad into service. My memories start getting a little fuzzy at this point due to my blood pressure being dangerously low. I remember my dad frantically doing whatever he was told, I remember the doctors trying to get an IV into me but every vein kept collapsing on them and I also remember that I basically had one chance (especially if they couldn't get a blood transfusion going quickly). They had to hold a swab saturated in adrenaline over the tonsil wound for about a minute to stem the bleeding. That was fun... I think I gagged and threw up in the first 5 seconds of the first attempt. I remember a horrible feeling that I was going to die... and I could see it in my dad's eyes too and I was impressed he was keeping it together as well as he was. They shoved that swab down my mouth again and I managed somehow to keep it there for the minute they needed. I think I blacked out because I don't remember anything else until the morning... and I had never felt so thankful to be alive ever.

On a happier note... when my son was born two years ago... that moment was something that will probably never be matched. I can't even begin to describe what it felt like in words (other parents here probably know what I'm blabbering about though).

 

[Sparhawk]

On a happier note... when my son was born two years ago... that moment was something that will probably never be matched. I can't even begin to describe what it felt like in words (other parents here probably know what I'm blabbering about though).

Yes, yes I do.

 

[Hailey Knight]

Feeling weird when thinking of this topic. Now I keep remembering moments where I almost died, and it not phasing me with any sense of "wow, I'm alive". I would always just laugh it off. And I wonder if I just don't appreciate anything.

:/

 

[Wasabi Poptart]

On a happier note... when my son was born two years ago... that moment was something that will probably never be matched. I can't even begin to describe what it felt like in words (other parents here probably know what I'm blabbering about though).

Oddly enough, when both of my kids were born I was more glad they were okay and didn't think too much about being thankful that I was alive. Especially when my daughter was born since she got stuck (shoulder dystocia) on the way out. We went from having 5 people in the room to having about 15 people in the room including one delivery nurse who jumped up on the bed with me to help get the baby out. They were preparing to do an emergency c-section if they couldn't manipulate her shoulder the right way. Once she was out, she didn't have a good apgar score the first time they accessed her and her blood sugar was out of whack. I didn't even get to see her until about 10 minutes after she was born.