Tha Artivist Cheats Death…Again

Tha Artivist Cheats Death…Again

“My heroes are the ones who survived doing it wrong, who made mistakes, but recovered from them.”~Unknown

These past 6 years have really see me use to what amounts to nearly 9 lives…I have had several brushes with Death and have so far managed to escaped the scythe of the Grim Reaper several times…Although we all play this game every day, we all know that Death ends up winning…However a life well lived and loved could be worth more than the endgame result…

I have been in some really close calls…But in a way I have developed an attitude much attuned to a quarterback going back into the game after an interception or fumble, focusing on the possession at hand rather than what happened in the last possession…In other words I try not to let too much of the past control my present actions and decisions…Although I am very much aware that you can learn from the past, you should never want to live in it…With that said I always tell myself that it didn’t happen so it shouldn’t matter…

However, I have had my share of car accidents…I was almost cut in half coming out of the driveway of Kroger’s parking lot in the summer of 2004, which was eerily the 1st year anniversary of my Uncle Arthur dying from complications due to the HIV virus…I did not look both ways thoroughly before crossing into busy Winchester Rd. near the intersection of Hack Cross during rush hour Friday evening in Memphis,TN…

Crazily enough the next summer, almost one full year removed from when I had my 1st true car wreck, I wrecked my mom’s poor Acura sedan again…This time I was driving while it was raining…I was in the outer lane…I was not going particularly fast and somehow I lost control of the car after hitting a deceptively deep puddle of water and crashed into the concrete speed barrier on the expressway…The crazy thing is although folks saw that I crashed and smoke was coming out of the car no one even stopped…To add further insult to injury my cell phone (needed a charge) wasn’t working and I had to wait until a police patrol car stopped to receive any help over an hour later…To make it even worse he put me into the back of his claustrophobically small patrol car where the doors only open from the outside as if I was a criminal…

Coming home with his police lights flashing into a dark county neighborhood, neighbors must have thought I was a common thug being dropped off or maybe even one of those rambunctious rabble rousers (although I do declare myself as a proud rabble rouser!!!)...

It seems like every time I had a car wreck that I was playing the part of a Good Samaritan or performing a good deed for somebody else…The first wreck occurred after I picked my sister up from high school volleyball practice and took her to Taco Bell for dinner…The second accident occurred after checking on my mortally ill maternal grandfather’s home (he was now staying at my mom’s house and would die later that summer on Aug. 12,2005…2005 was a tough year for yours truly but like the old saying goes what doesn’t kills you only makes you stronger)…They also say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions…And for good reason…

And mom much love for loving your son more so than your poor car…I will make it up to you soon...

And speaking of unforgivable roadways I cannot forget the August of 2008...I was coming home from participating as an alum in the annual Ervin Orientation Program for incoming freshmen members of the John B. Ervin Scholars Program of Washington University in St. Louis…I left late Sunday evening to get back to Memphis when my body kept on telling me that maybe I should get rest and stay the night in St. Louis...I realize as I mature I must become a better listener of my body!

Needless to say I was drifting in and out of sleep while driving 70 to 80 miles per hour on the expressway…Although I had my music blasting I still could not manage to stay awake for a few precious minutes at a time…Somewhere between the flatlands of Missouri and Arkansas I regain consciousness only to realize that I was now spinning into a 360 on a very dangerous piece of highway, I-55…I could actually see my recent life flashing before my eyes…I kept thinking to myself is this how it is going to end? Amazingly nobody was driving around me at that time...I was able to maneuver the car to a complete stop on the side of the road in tall grass…I was further amazed to find both myself in one piece and my car in one piece and still in working order…Needless to say I was wide awake for the rest of the trip…

Which brings me to the latest installment…This past Saturday I went to a grant writing workshop…I felt good and empowered knowing that I was receiving invaluable information that was going to take the W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Movement to the next level in terms of financing and other opportunities for growth…Well the first half went smoothly…As we introduced ourselves I realized I was in distinguished company…The room was full of all types of true community servants…Many religious leaders and nurses were in attendance…This observation will make sense much later…

It just so happen that during the workshop I was sitting next to a minister who also was a well respected police officer very active in community affairs in a very positive way…His wife was sitting next to him…During our working lunch of Lenny’s we both exchanged information and he soon realized that he knew my mom and receives regular updates from her highly influential college preparation blog http://www.ctherd.blogspot.com ...Furthermore, some of his kids are participants in the same golf program my brother is a part of…

It seemed like as soon as we exchanged information and good wishes and the lecturer was getting revved and ready to thoroughly go into the remainder of the workshop that all sudden there was a loud pop that sounded like a very large firecracker going off…The sound was immediately followed by a distinctive burnt smell and smoke with feather like material flying up in the air...It seems like everything was going into slow motion until the officer angrily and loudly yelled to snap me back into the moment by saying “who brought a gun in here!?!” All of sudden there was a commotion and panic in the room and some folks yell and even ran out of the room…I was still kind of in a trance until I turned around and saw a purse with a huge hole and with a gun laying inside of it still smoking…It belonged to the minister’s wife who was sitting directly behind me…

Needless to say my heart seem to skip a beat…I was truly afraid to look down…Like when you look at the movies it seems that the last person to know if someone was shot is the person that was shot!!! As if we rehearsed and synchronized the event on purpose many of us started to search our bodies for holes that shouldn’t naturally be…I also felt the back of my head, needless to say I was relieved…

All of a sudden there was a scream and I saw that the officer/minister’s wife was hit in the right thigh by a bullet…Her jogging pants was torn where the bullet passed by and there was blood coming out…A nurse quickly came to her aid and applied pressure to the wound…

The owner of the gun was more hysterical than the victim of the gun shot…Her husband immediately call for emergency back up as his wounded wife started to excitedly pray and speak in tongues…However, the minister’s wife whose gun caused the damage was beyond consolable…She was sobbing and praying profusely…Her husband and others immediately came to her aid to form a prayer circle…

Another nurse came to me and told me that the officer/minister’s wife should not be so excited because a blood vessel could be ruptured further and could cause her to bleed to death…As if reading her mind the nurse taking care of the wound told everybody to give the wounded woman space and specifically told the wounded victim to calm down so she wouldn’t put her health in further jeopardy…

Me and another minister started to move chairs and tables out of the way to create room for the paramedics and their gurney…The good news is that the officer/minister’s wife was only grazed by the bullet and that the bullet was actually lodged in the wooden arm rest part of her chair…We all were greatly relieved except for the pastor’s wife who owned the gun…Her main reason for bringing it was to keep it out of the reach of her grandkids at home…Another person who was also packing told me that she should not have had the gun in her purse in the first place and that she personally carries her gun in a holster...It made me wonder offhand how many people had guns on them that day and why do so many people who profess to have full faith and confidence in GOD as their savior and protector be packing in the first place?

Come to find out that the lady who owned the gun had a severe case of hypertension and was also going to the hospital as well which was even more ironic considering the fact that the lady being carried out on a gurney was calm almost serene and taking the misfortune better than anyone else…She told us to pray for the sister and that everything will be ok…

Needless to say we all got our money’s worth and more than we bargain for this past Saturday…However, the fact that the lady was sitting right behind me with the loaded purse lets me know how blessed I truly am…I have recently come to the conclusion that whatever it is that I will eventually do in this world that it must be awesome because the enemy has been trying so hard to take me out these past several years…

In conclusion, I would like to add that all we have is now so make the most of it because you never know about tomorrow if it never comes for you… 

(Ron Herd II a.k.a. R2C2H2 Tha Artivist Is Author Of The Award Winning James Reese Europe: Jazz Lieutenant http://www.jazzlieutenant.blogspot.com. He is also the creator of W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News http://www.weallbe.blogspot.com, Radio http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe & TV http://www.youtube.com/weallbetv & http://www.weallbetv.blip.tv. He can be reached at r2c2h2@gmail.com)