Once when I was five or six I walked into our living room and my father (jokingly - he was a very loving man) asked me, "What are you good for?"
I replied that, "I was good to love." My father laughed, gave me a hug and said something like, "Indeed you are."
He had his flaws but I remember him fondly. He died when I was seven.
@paul-w Oh Paul, thank you for sharing this tender moment with your beloved dad. I am so sorry you lost him at such a tender age. I hope it's okay if I tell you that I just sent some angels to your side and one of them pointed him out to you. He watches over you now.
Have you considered that you may have saved the lives of your family members? I've seen a lot of videos of people climbing around on piers and jetties then getting slammed by rogue waves. So I can't help but think that as your father was driving away from the pier an enormous wave swept over the side that would have flushed all of you out to sea. Also, I'm of the sacrilegious view that the laws of physics and whatnot are malleable, since they only exist based on collective agreement about what is "real." Young children can sometimes break the rigid quantum field collective assent creates because their minds are very plastic. Also, are you an air sign on the zodiac?
@lynnventura
There are 21st century equivalents to the Samantha book of your childhood imagination. I'm currently working my way through Damien Echols' guide to high magick. There are probably other manifestation guides out there.
@coyote I'll check out that book. He has a fascinating story. I hope he's living a life that makes up for all he was robbed of.
The story of how my life was saved by a chicken! Somewhat Traumatic if you don't like snakes.
When I was around 5 years old, my Dad watched this movie called the "Wilderness Family" and it inspired him to move from the city to the backwoods of Virginia and to build a log cabin. We didn't have running water or electricity. We had to get our water from a nearby spring, cook and heat with a wood stove, and generally rough it. We had chickens, goats, dogs, cats, and the occasional pet box turtle which we'd catch and later set loose. It was a great experience, but I don't know that I'd do it again.
We lived in the cabin for about three years, so I was between the ages of 5 and 8 when this incident happened. There was a dirt road coming into our cabin and running in front of it. I used to ride my bicycle up and down dirt road in front of the house. Being in a backwoods area there were always snakes around -- all sorts including black snakes, garter snakes, copperheads, and rattlesnakes. They would often sun themselves on the dirt roads coming into the cabin, but usually they didn't come too close to our yard or cabin. I guess because it was cleared and because of all the human and animal activity.
I was actually the person in the family who had an uncanny knack for seeing snakes, especially when they were hidden. Once I saw a snake in the innards of a reclining chair, but luckily that one was just a rubber snake.
Anyway, one day I was driving my bicycle up and down the road in front of the house. I heard a truck coming so I pulled off the side of the road where this stump had been overturned. I looked down and within striking distance was a rattlesnake. Luckily for me it was distracted. One of our chickens was dancing around in front of it aggressively so the snake didn't notice me. I screamed, dropped my bicycle, and got my Dad. He ended up shooting the snake with a shotgun.
I honestly believe that if the chicken had not been there distracting the snake, that it would have bitten me as I was so close to it. So I feel that my life was saved by the chicken!
@melmystery Wow, what a great story, and such a great title - how my life was saved by a chicken. Can't stop laughing at that title. I'm going to think of that tonight when I cook a chicken tender dinner.
Cockroaches (squeamish)
Like spiderman who was bitten by a spider, I truly believe I was bitten by a cockroach and can detect them or sense them. It happened when I was 16 years old. I felt something in my pant leg and swatted it and out fell a cockroach. Throughout the years I get this “cockroach tingle” when one is nearby or that one will cross my path soon. My husband and daughter are amazed at my cockroach detection record. LOL! It doesn’t matter where I am or how clean the place is I still sense them. To top it off I hate everything about these critters.
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@april-rosa's childhood roach experience reminds me of a time when I was about seven or eight when I was walking down the street by myself one day. We were renting a small house for a few weeks on Clearwater Beach in Florida. I was about 7 or 8.
I noticed a small bird in a palm tree staring at me as I walked along. I stared back but kept walking although it was making me nervous. It was a typical hot Florida day, with bleached sidewalks that had bits of shells mixed in the concrete, dry wirey crabgrass mixed with sand, and small stucco houses crowded together facing the sea. Then suddenly the little bird flew down and vigorously pecked the top of my head, then flew right back into the tree. I grabbed the top of my head and ran home.
I don't know why I'm not afraid of birds, though, but you'll never get me to move to Florida.