I almost died.

You gain a new perspective on life when you’re in a plane, cruising at 35,000 feet above the ground, and suddenly begin to plummet to your death.

As I mentioned in my last post, me and the wife… I just realized I never mentioned her name. Wow, I’m a shithead. Her name is Maria. Maria Ana Suarez-Sawyer.

Anyway, we were headed out to LA so she could read for a part on a new TV show. We were in a good mood as we boarded at Kansas City International, and everything was smooth through takeoff. Maria was asleep and I was watching a movie when, somewhere over New Mexico, we hit bad turbulence. Like, really bad. I mean, I fly all the time for games, appearances, etc. but I’ve never hit turbulence this bad.

Maria immediately woke up. “Honey, what’s going on?!” I couldn’t forget the fear in her voice if I tried. I think what made it worse was that I was just as scared, and there was nothing I could do to help either of us. As she grabbed onto my arm, the cabin pressure dropped as we began to free fall from the sky. When the oxygen masks dropped, I was sure that I was going to die. I could already hear the “sad SportsCenter music” playing as they announced my death on ESPN. I’m sure Maria would have gotten a piece on Good Morning America, or something.

We must have only been a few thousand feet off the ground when the pilot finally began to regain control and level off the flight. The new few minutes are hazy. I think I blacked out. But I know we eventually made it to Albuquerque, where we made our emergency landing. I don’t know why I’m admitting this, but when we touched down, I cried. I balled. It was the first time I had cried in 5 years. I buried my face in my wife’s shirt and I wept like a small child.

An experience like that changes a man.