With calm reasoning, I made a sort of mental list—the pros and cons of whether to go on, or to go back. I didn’t hear any voices, or see anyone during this experience, but I “felt” the presence of God.

I thought about my parents, and how grieved they would be to lose me, but then I knew that, even missing me, they would be okay. I thought about all my plans for my life. I was in college, and was a very goal-oriented person, but suddenly it seemed that if those things happened that would be nice, but if not, that was alright too. The one thing that surprised me then—and even now, when I think back—is that I had always hoped to get married, and that having children was important to me. But even that wasn’t enough to make me want to come back.

Now, of course, I’m so very blessed that I have had the joy to marry, be a mother and grandmother.