August 15, 2002 was just another ordinary day.

Well at least it started out that way. I was ending up one work project working at a new factory that I helped develop. The Hummer project was pretty challenging for many reasons. I was the third project manager brought in by Raytheon to try and close up the training and development program. It was my first job with Raytheon and to say that it was challenging would be the understatement of a lifetime. I won’t go into the personalities involved or the complications, but by August 15, I was as ready to move along to the next project as I had ever been in my life.

The morning was complex since I was trying to turn over all of my completed work to the young man who had been my number two for that whole time. He and the team had done remarkable work giving the limitations and challenges we faced. The team included some excellent folks besides my number two including one guy who was very quiet and unassuming in all that he did. He was slightly older than me and had served in the Army in Vietnam before later retiring.  Years later, I would see him on TV getting the Medal of Honor from President Trump. It was a belated award but I can tell you that I never knew a man more worthy.

I was feeling very strange that day.

My arms were sore and numb. I had a bit of a headache and the friend from corporate who was there noticed that my attention span wasn’t really there. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Walking around didn’t clear it up either. But at one point I knew I was in trouble. I told Adam (my number two guy) that he needed to drive me to the emergency room. It didn’t occur to me that neither of us knew where the closest one was. But we went downstairs and as soon as I hit the hot August afternoon weather, I became violently ill. Followed by an excruciating pain in my chest. And I fell over and could not get up.

Someone called for an ambulance and called Debbie on my cell phone. All she could hear was me puking in between cries of pain. At one point,  I was looking towards the sky and saw a bright light and what looked like an opening. I told Adam to tell Debbie I loved her and my goodbyes. The look on his face was priceless. But he told me NO. You have to tell her yourself… at that moment, the bright light and the opening closed up.  They say your whole life flashes before your eyes as you are dying. I don’t know about your whole life but I could certainly see all of the bad things I had done passing by one after another. At one point I even began to think, crap, with all of these things, can I even go to heaven? From somewhere inside, I heard a voice say this: I told you that if you believed in me, I would make a place for you. Do you believe? I said yes Lord.

That moment

At that moment, the whole world became calm. I was still in pain, but I surrendered my old self. The ambulance that had been driving around for nearly forty minutes looking for us finally arrived. They rushed me to the hospital where a team was already scrubbed in from a previous surgery. One shot of morphine, a new stent and blissful sleep followed.

I had a quadruple bypass the following week and after recovery, went back to work.

In the following years  it’s been quite an adventure.

   

I’ve traveled around the country and the world. I have been a teacher, a leader, a speaker, a preacher, a Chief of Staff and a counselor. And sometimes a writer.

Now that I am retired again (I had to promise to make it my last time), I am going to focus a bit more on the writing. I am incredibly grateful to all of my tribe and every medical professional that have allowed me to continue this journey. Not everyone is still here.

My Mom passed away three years ago and my sister in law Judy was lost on this day two years ago. Both were prayer warriors that have gone home to meet Jesus. Despite the anniversary of their loss on these August days, I am reminded that we need to celebrate the lasting impact they made on so many lives. I often think that God allowed me to live past that day in 2002 for a purpose. It’s like getting a do over in so many ways. I am eternally grateful for the grace.

Looking back over the past 69 years, I can see that my guardian angels worked overtime.

I truly hope they are also getting adequately rewarded.

Thanks for checking in on theleansubmariner.

Mister Mac