The DU Lounge

in '94 and I had been through tornados, hurricanes, and flooding in Tx., I'm going with earthquake on this one.

As my bed literally bounced all throughout the hardwood floors of my bedroom during that quake, I "knew" I was going to die. It was a happy time in my life (I was in my 30's and had just started working on finally obtaining my college degree). For some reason, a calm came through me and I actually said out loud, "so this is how I die. That's okay. I'm happy." I believe in a higher power and felt that was happening - meaning why some kind of calm came over me.

Anyway, after it was over, we literally had to crawl out of our condo (there was broken glass everywhere including a fish tank with all the water and deceased fish). It was dark (4:31 a.m. on January 17, 1994) so we needed to see the glass and needed to be down on the ground.

During the event, I had that calm feeling. But after that, with all of the after shocks and realizing how close to death I felt I'd been - I definitely had PTSD. I now have an earthquake bag right next to my bed with necessary items such as tennis shoes, flashlight, a little cash on hand, jeans, a shirt, a jacket, and a couple of other items.

That's a time in my life I'll for sure never forget.