Childhood Memory

We went shopping for a freezer today, and it brought back some interesting memories. While the salesman was showing us a freezer, he said, "This one doesn't have a lock on it, but if you don't have young children you won't need to worry." I said, "I was one of those children. I got locked in a freezer when I was young." He was very surprised, so I told him the story. I looked in my archives, and couldn't find this, so I'll tell it now.

Once when I was about three years old, my Dad left to go somewhere, and I threw a fit because I wanted to go with him. My mother wouldn't let me, and my father left without me. My mother said she thinks I was tired and needed a nap. I was crying and really throwing a tantrum, so my mother left me to spunk in the basement while she went upstairs. In the short time that she was gone, I found that I could open the door to our unplugged freezer. I carefully pulled all of my stuffed animals and dolls up in to the freezer, and then I got up on the rack with them. I have very vivid memories of this event, and I remember that I had to really work hard to get the door to close behind me. And then I had to work even harder to get it to actually click shut. But once inside, I quickly tired of laying down, but found that I couldn't open the door. I remember trying and trying in the dark to open the latch, but couldn't do it. I began to cry for my mother to come open the door for me, but she didn't come. I thought she was punishing me for crying, so I settled down and fell asleep.

I'm not sure how much time passed, but my mother discovered that things were too quiet, and upon investigation found that I was no where to be seen. She sent all of the kids to look up and down the street, and she herself began to search the house. I'm not sure how long they looked, but at one point my mother was just passing the freezer, when something told her to open the door. Can you imagine being a mother, and opening the door to an unplugged freezer, only to see your lifeless looking child laying there? She thought I was dead. She grabbed me out of the freezer and hugged me to her. At that point I woke up and cried, and she thankfully knew that I was alive.

As I related this story to the salesman, he said, "That's why we should always listen to intuition." I told him we needed to thank God! My mother felt it was more than "intuition" guiding her to open the freezer door that day. And I think the fact that I fell asleep may be the reason that I didn't suffocate. I am very thankful to God that my life was spared that day!