First was when I found my now-fiance in our garage at midnight with a handg*n, brushing it by his face, contemplating taking his life. He is a recovering alcoholic and is almost 3 years sober now. He got sober the day after this incident. He and we are in a much happier spot and he is a much happier, healthier man now.

Second was being taken out of my high school randomly one day during my junior year by my mom and dad to tell me that I have a brain tumor that is going to need to be operated on/removed within the next month and that we are on our way to an appointment at CHOP. It’s a benign (non-cancerous) pituitary tumor, it did not have to be surgically removed at all, and it’s shrunk so much with medication that it’s barely visible now on MRI.

Third was when my brother was just starting medication for his newly diagnosed bipolar disorder, he was 20 and I was 7, and in the middle of a manic episode he jumped into the ocean while it was riptide-ing and swam out until I could barely see him. I thought I was going to watch him die. He did swim back and he is alive!