By Joe Mazzella
I was a young boy sitting in the middle of the road, crying. My head was hurting so bad I could hardly stand it. I felt dizzy. Blood was streaming down my face. Just ten minutes earlier I had been having the time of my life, riding my bicycle down the deserted roads of the empty 4-H camp near my home. It was only used during the summer months and during the rest of the year it was my own personal playground.
This day I had decided that instead of riding my bike on the paved roads I would try the one graveled road the camp had. It was a bumpy ride but I was still going pretty fast when my bike’s front tire struck a rock jutting out of the road. In that second the bike flipped and I went over the handlebars head first into the gravel. This was the years before bike helmets too, so my skull took the full impact. I got up bleeding and hurting and tried to walk home. But as I was getting close I felt so tired and dizzy that I had to sit down and just cry. I am not sure how long I sat there crying but suddenly I felt an urging deep inside of me and yet outside of me as well. It was pushing me to get up and keep walking so I struggled to my feet and walked unsteadily on. I don’t remember much after that. I remember my Mom seeing me and screaming for my Dad to come outside. I remember riding in the car to the hospital. I remember returning home with a head full of stitches. I still don’t know what forced me to get up that last time, though. Was it God, an angel, my own soul? I just know someone didn’t want me to die that day.
It has been 50 years since then and I’ve done a lot of living, a lot of loving, and some good in this life. I know one day too I will leave this world for the next but I’ll leave the date up to God. Richard Bach said, “Here’s the test to find out whether your mission on Earth is finished: If you’re alive, it isn’t.” May you cherish each day here then and live them all with Love and Joy.
