I died once, really I did. I know I did, for all of maybe 2 minutes, I was dead. I didn't feel my soul leave my body but I sure felt it going back in. Life hurts, more than death. . .  I know. I was maybe six years old when it happened. My family and I were at my parent's friends house, Jim and Nancy, having a swim party to show off thier new pool. The adults were sitting at the patio table having drinks and Jim (my dad's best friend) was barbequeing some hotdogs and burgers. Us kids were playing in and around the pool. I couldn't swim and there were only a couple of pool floats there were two tube like rings, one had a seat built into it, the other one didn't. I kept asking to use them but no one wanted to give one up. Just when I was going to give up, one of Jim's boys said "Hey, Mel, you wanna use this one? I'm done." Naturally I said yes. My name is actually Melody, but everyone just calls me Mel. I guess because I'm such a tomboy. Any way, back to what I was saying, I didn't  pay attention when he got out of the tube and I made an assumption that was incorrect. I assumed that he had the tube with the seat in it cause he was in the middle and not holding on plus he was about my age, so I just jumped in expecting the seat to catch me. I sunk like a stone straight to the bottom of the deep end.I realized my mistake, as my head slid in the water, at about the same time I heard my mother scream. Everything happened so fast, one moment I was on the bottom of the pool looking up at the underside of the surface and the next I was floating above the pool watching everything. I saw my mother trying to run to the pool, my father holding her because he knew she wasn't a good swimmer either and everyone else just frozen with shock, except Jim, who was furthest away. He quickly stripped to his swimsuit and dove in and pulled me out. I watched Jim hand me over to my mother as she wrapped me in a towel and started  CPR on me, next thing I knew I was back in my body. I was crying and coughing and all I wanted to do was go back to where it didn't hurt to breathe. People have said that must have been very traumatic for you, but honestly, no it wasn't. That experience taught me that death wasn't something to fear. I didn't see a light, probably because I hadn't been dead long enough, but I did feel peace and I felt safe. That was something that I wouldn't feel for many years later. No I didn't die again but, I found someone who gave me that same peace and safe feeling. He is now my husband. I truly believe that death even a traumatic one will come to me peacefully.