"I'm Glad You Know Me!" A Memoir of Relationships: Love, Fate, and Forgiveness shares an intriguing story of a woman who traversed life-altering jolts and dips, as well as the easier stretches of routine days. She came close to dying three times, unaware of God's love, protection, and ever-present guidance until decades later.
Surviving a close encounter with death while in her mother's womb—"a bun in the oven"—Phyllis and her family avoided a head-on, two-lane highway collision, a "close encounter of the first kind." At seven, she was stricken with a serious childhood illness that almost claimed her life, a "close encounter of the second kind."
At seventeen, Phyllis bore the pain, disappointment, embarrassment, and shame of becoming pregnant while in high school. Sadly, she was left alone and broken.
Later, as a young adult, she had her first job at a long-term care center as a nursing assistant. She loved caring for her residents. After some time, she experienced two painful co-worker relationships consecutively—yes, in the same workplace. These experiences left Phyllis traumatized and broken, but her love and passion for caring for others never wavered. She went on to pursue her passion through a career in nursing.
In September 1979, Phyllis' full-term, healthy, yet unexpected pregnancy took a traumatic turn in the labor and delivery room. Her baby—her third child—was ready to be born, but couldn't. Her cervix had only dilated to 7 cm. She suddenly felt the urge to go to the bathroom. After being assisted to the toilet, she began bleeding profusely and required immediate emergency surgery. It was a "close encounter of the third kind."
Phyllis' message and prayer to God is: "I'm glad YOU know me!"
