Nine Lives

Today I was discussing the rash of recent kidnappings with a friend and I told her a little about when I was kidnapped. I've told this story in the presence of my husband so many times that he now just rolls his eyes. Dan, if you're reading this, don't roll your eyes.

Anyway, when I was five, we lived in an apartment above the Western Auto Store in Adel, Iowa. I used to play on the sidewalk and all the merchants knew me. My dad worked in the Auto store. One day, two young men were walking along the sidewalk and stopped to ask me if I wanted to go for a ride. I said I did but I had to ask my daddy. I opened the door to the store and said, "Daddy, these two nice men want me to go for a ride with them...can I?"
Daddy didn't answer so I took that as a yes and off we went. They drove me around the town and out to the park next to the river. They parked the car and talked together in low voices. Then they turned around, took me back and dropped me off in the alley behind our apartment. It wasn't until years later I was told a family friend was following behind the car after he'd seen me in the car with the men. Guess I was pretty lucky.

Some other near misses I've had:
1. Almost choked to death on bacon when I was a toddler.
2. Ate a whole bottle of "nerve pills" as a toddler.
3. Fell in the road in front of a tractor and almost got my head run over by the wheel.
4. Flew off an ATV on my head while driving as fast as I could, almost breaking my neck.
5. Car-jacked at gunpoint.

Wow. I've got 3 lives to go. Maybe I'll make it to 100 after all!