{"id":9653,"date":"2024-04-26T23:24:52","date_gmt":"2024-04-26T23:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=9653"},"modified":"2024-04-26T23:24:52","modified_gmt":"2024-04-26T23:24:52","slug":"9653","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsx48.info\/?p=9653","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

but Fred\u2026 Something\u2019s happened to Fred\u2026\u201d\u201dJames?\u201d Nola gasped and felt a giant hand clench around her heart. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened? Is Fred hurt?\u201d\u201dNo, honey,\u201d said Fred\u2019s best friend gently. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Nola, homey, you have to be brave\u2026Fred is dead.\u201d\u201dNo!\u201d Nola screamed. \u201cStop it, James! This is a BAD JOKE! Stop! Stop!\u201dBut in her heart, Nola knew it wasn\u2019t a joke, and big burly James who\u2019d been Fred\u2019s best friend since the first grade was crying like a baby. \u201cI\u2019m sorry Nola\u2026I\u2019m so sorry\u2026 He was next to me and then he just\u2026He was gone, gone\u2026\u201dIn a strange numb fog, Nola called her mother and asked her to come over and sit with Kelly. Then Nola drove the two hours up to the mountains to meet James at the coroner\u2019s office in the small town near which they had their cabin.With James\u2019 arm around her shoulders, Nola stood like a statue as the coroner drew back the white sheet to expose Fred\u2019s still face. Nola felt hot tears burn their way down her cheeks.From what I can ascertain Mr. Swart had a massive heart attack and died instantly,the coroner said, \u201cHowever, I do recommend you have an autopsy performed by a pathologist\u2026\u201d\u201dNever,\u201d screamed Jenny. \u201cNo one is going to cut up my Fred. Let him rest in peace!\u201dThe coroner sighed. \u201cMrs. Swart, I do understand. I will issue a death certificate, so you can proceed with the funeral.\u201dNola was trembling. \u201cThe funeral\u2026 Fred always said he wanted to be cremated. I want everything to be as he would have wanted it.\u201dJames helped Nola organize Fred\u2019s body\u2019s transportation home, and the next day their family, and their many friends came to pay their last tribute to the fun-loving, energetic young man they had loved.Nola had asked the funeral director to leave the casket open so they could all say their final goodbyes. One by one, the mourners approached the casket,whispered one last message, said their prayers.The priest spoke movingly about Fred. \u201cEven though our hearts are sore, even though we grieve for our loss, let us always remember that Fred has left this world for a better one and that he is now in His Father\u2019s loving hands.\u201dLife isn\u2019t constant, and all we can rely on is our faith.Nola listened and felt anger fill her heart. She whispered harshly to her mother, \u201cGod! If there was a God Fred would be home right now, not lying cold in that box. God! God has left my baby fatherless!\u201dThe priest looked at Nola, and a few of the people were staring, and her mother tried to hush her. Nola pushed her mother\u2019s hands away. She cried in a louder voice. \u201cAre you all praying to God? Ask Him what I\u2019m going to tell my baby! Why don\u2019t you ask him that!\u201dNola\u2019s mom put her arms around her and tried to comfort her, and the funeral director advanced with his assistant to take Fred\u2019s coffin to the crematorium. Nola pulled away from her mother. \u201cWait!\u201d she cried. \u201cPlease wait! I need to say goodbye!\u201dNola walked up to the casket and leaned over to caress Fred\u2019s face with trembling fingers. \u201cI love you\u2026I will always love you,\u201d she whispered, then she gently kissed his lips \u2014 the last kiss she\u2019d share with the man she\u2019d wanted to grow old with.As she looked down at Fred, Nola saw something incredible. Fred blinked.\u00a0I\u2019m mad,<\/em>\u00a0Nola thought,\u00a0I want him back so much I\u2019m having hallucinations.<\/em>But then Fred\u2019s eyelids fluttered again and Nola screamed, \u201cHe\u2019s alive! Oh my God! Call 911!\u201d The funeral director, who thought Nola was imagining it all in her grief stepped forward and saw Fres\u2019s eyes open, then close again.He turned to his assistant and ordered him to call 911, find a doctor, anything! Fred was transferred from his coffin to the ambulance and taken to the hospital with Nola by his side.The doctor confirmed that Fred was alive, but that something had plunged him into a deep coma so that the inexperienced small-town coroner had believed him to be dead.After several tests, the doctors revealed that Fred had been stung by a bee and had a violent allergic reaction to the venom \u2014 so violent that he had appeared to be dead.Fortunately for Fred, Nola had refused an autopsy or a traditional funeral for which he would have been subjected to an embalming process. Under medical care, Fred recovered from his horrific experience.He was home within days, and as lively as ever, but Nola never forgot her anguish and the horror of seeing him laid out in his coffin. For Nola, it was a miracle, a second chance given to their family by a compassionate God.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

but Fred\u2026 Something\u2019s happened to Fred\u2026\u201d\u201dJames?\u201d Nola gasped and felt a giant hand clench around her heart. \u201cWhat\u2019s happened? Is Fred hurt?\u201d\u201dNo, honey,\u201d said Fred\u2019s best friend gently. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Nola, homey, you have to be brave\u2026Fred is dead.\u201d\u201dNo!\u201d Nola screamed. \u201cStop it, James! This is a BAD JOKE! Stop! Stop!\u201dBut in her heart, Nola…<\/p>\n

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