THE DAY A SUPERNATURAL EVENT, CHANGED MY LIFE FOREVER! (SWC)

in #jerrybanfield7 years ago

I'm still at a loss to explain this event, 30 years later!

I'd like to preface this testimony by saying, that everything you are about to read, is absolutely 100% the truth, with absolutely no embellishment whatsoever...only the name(s) were changed.


It was 1988. As an entrepreneur, I was in my first year, of a newly formed cellular telephone dealership. 

I had a business partner who was a former auto mechanic. He joined me as a silent partner, due to a bankruptcy he was going through. He exchanged his labour expertize for a cash investment in the business. 

It worked out very well, initially. I'd do the selling, and he'd do all the installations into customers vehicles. We worked hard, and the business grew, albeit slowly at first, but grew nonetheless. We tried to lease a couple of new mini vans, in order to have a presentable vehicle, for my sales calls, and for Harry to load up with products, tools and equipment, to do onsite installations, on yachts at marinas, etc. ![1995FordAerostar09-crop.jpg]() Unfortunately, the bank turned us down, because our company was too new, and I wasn't prepared to personally guarantee the financing. So, we continued on with our junker cars. One Monday morning, I was expecting Harry join me for a sales meeting with our team. He didn't show up. I called him several times, left him a message to call, but never heard back from him that day. I thought that was quite odd, since he's never been incommunicado before. I wasn't too worried about it, I knew there must have been a good reason. Tuesday rolled around, Wednesday, Thursday and by Friday I was becoming concerned. I called him everyday, no answer, and no callback. As a matter of fact, I didn't hear hide nor hair from him, for over 3 weeks! At that point, I wasn't worried, I was pissed off! I needed his help to service customers, however, I had previously made arrangements with an outside installation company, so I was ok to continue. The following week, I noticed a brand new Jeep Wrangler pull up to the building. Out jumped Harry, in a fancy suit. I was perplexed by what I saw. Harry walked in and asked if I had a minute to talk. We sat in my office, while I listened to Harry tell his story... He told me he's very sorry for being incognito for over a month. He proceeded to tell me, he was in a situation in his life, where he needed to make money, and to basically be a 'somebody', with a fancy suit, a shiny new car, and a business card. I told him, I understood, but it takes time to build a business. It requires hard work, and a lot of time to build it. He knew exactly what I was talking about, since he had a business before coming to join me. Unfortunately, he got shafted by his former business partner, hence why he had to declare personal bankruptcy. Long story...so, he went out and got himself a job, as a new car salesman. He told me, how he had made some real bad decisions in his life, and just wanted to achieve something better, sooner rather than later. I understood how he felt. I asked him, if he was still 'on the wagon'? He used to be an alcoholic, but has been dry, for the last three or four years. He said that he was, and I believed him. We shook hands, and bid each other farewell, and the best of luck in the future. I did not hear a thing from Harry for the next 8 months or so, when one day I got a phone call from him. He asked if I wanted to join him for dinner. We met that evening at a nice local restaurant. We chatted and caught up on things, since we still remained friends. We ordered drinks to start, I a cocktail, while Harry ordered tonic water. I remember thinking how happy I was, to see Harry had not fallen off the wagon. He asked how the business was going, and what was new in my life. I told him, the business had grown substantially since the last time I saw him. I pointed out, that I had just purchased a new car two weeks ago. He looked across the street, and said, "that's not your new car is it?" I said, "why yes, yes it is." Under the neon lights, of the tire shop across the street, sat my brand new Lincoln MkVII LSC. It was all shined up, and just sparkled in the light. We walked across the street after dinner, so Harry could check out the car. He told me how much he liked it, though I sensed sadness and disappointment in him. He said to me, "well I guess if I stayed with the business, I might have had a car just as fancy." " Well, I can add that to all the other bad decisions I've made in my life." I said, "Harry, everything happens for a reason, and you'll do just fine as long as you stick with it." I gave him a 'man hug' and we parted. Two weeks later I get a call from a mutual friend/customer of ours. Peter asked, "did you hear about Harry?" "I said no, what happened?" He said, "Harry was killed in a car accident last night!" I almost fell to the ground. Peter continued, " he ran off the off-ramp, of the highway straight into a light standard. They called in a helicopter to transport him to a trauma center." I was floored by the news, that Peter just layed on me. I started talking to myself, asking what the hell happened and why? Peter informed me, that the service for Harry would be a couple of days from now. I attended Harry's wake that night. After I paid my respects, I overheard a small group of salesmen, that apparently worked with Harry, talking about him, near the coffin Harry lay. I heard things like, "he must have been drunk and ran into the pole," "the cops at the scene said he withdrew a $100 from a bank machine, cause they found the ATM slip in the car" etc. I found it hard to believe, that Harry had fallen off the wagon, since I just had dinner with him 2 weeks prior, and saw him order a tonic water, instead of an alcoholic drink. But, one never knows. Perhaps, after Harry and I had dinner, he found out my business was going well, and I had just bought a new car, he might have, you know, slipped into a depression that caused him to drink again. I didn't want to believe that. Harry was buried a week or so after his fatal accident. After the funeral, I decided to go to the scene of the accident, to try to make some sense of what happened, at least in my own mind. I stopped my car on the shoulder of the off-ramp, and walked over to crash site. I looked very closely at the scene and noticed, small plastic parts of dashboard, pieces of taillights, headlights, IV bags, and medical tubing strewn all over the place. I remember thinking what a chaotic scene it must have been. I looked for skid marks, but didn't see any, so it seemed there was no attempt to stop. He seemed to have hit this pole dead on, at highway speed! ![bmw-3.jpg]() I walked over to the pole he crashed into, clasped my hands, bowed my head and said a prayer for Harry. I asked Harry, while in prayer, "what happened Harry? Why did you run into this pole, you were too good of a driver for that?" "Did you do this deliberately? Were you drunk?" I wanted an answer, but wasn't expecting one, that was until I opened my eyes. Down on the ground, between my feet, I saw a folded wad of cash! ![IMG_9012.jpg]() I counted the money I had just picked up. There was four $20 dollar bills. I looked over to the left, just a few feet away, was a $10 bill, being pushed away by the breeze. I walked over and picked it up. I looked over a few feet more, and on the ramp, I saw a $5 bill floating away down the ramp. I ran over and picked it up, and was stunned by what I had discovered. I sniffed the money, it smelled like raw gasoline. I had a chill run up my spine, not being able to explain how this money was placed between my feet. Where did it come from? It wasn't mine, since my wallet was in the car, in the glove box specifically, since I hated sitting on it while I drove . How could this wad of cash have survived all the chaos that would have been that night? I definitely would have noticed it right away, while I was examining the scene. Was it a message from God, Harry himself or both? I felt I needed to tell Harry's girlfriend, that discovering this money, was a message to tell everyone, that Harry wasn't drunk when he crashed. All the money he withdrew, was accounted for, except $5 dollars, which he probably spent on a pack of smokes. I drove to his girlfriends house, and explained what happened, and gave her the gas saturated cash. Her jaw literally dropped to the floor. She was still speechless, when I said goodbye, and walked out the door. I have no explanation, but I will tell you this. From that day onward, I knew that there is a lot more to this world than what we see, hear, and feel! God Bless

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