My Friend Jesus …: Stroke at 45

By Annette Coffey

When I awoke from my stroke, which was a pons stroke at the base of my neck. A blood vessel to my brain had ripped and was bleeding into my brain, causing damage. I was unable to move any part of my body but my eyes just a little. I could not speak, breathe, eat, or drink. I worked and recovered some of my movement in the first three months, but it would take years and a lot of hard work to fine tune my muscles. I had lost my dream car, my plane, my home, and all of my savings to pay for medical bills in just a few months. Then I lost my husband of twenty-eight years, when I gave him a divorce because he had to move on with life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781449785017

Annette Coffey

“This is a woman that I admire. She has done so much in her life, even flying small airplanes and owning her own business. She is a real go-getter, and when the Lord placed the idea for this book in her heart, it really excited her. He just kept exciting her with more and more truths as time went along. She was so inspired that it felt like God was writing it, and she was just along for the ride. It blessed her as much as her readers. It is definitely a book you should read at least once, and since it is quick to read, you might read it again. I gave a copy of her first book to a friend of mine whose husband had a stroke like hers, and it was so helpful to her because she could see his struggles with new eyes. It helped them as a couple so much. She just loves people and wants to help them find the joy and peace she has with the Lord. As a side note, she lost the copy of the book when she got a new tablet and searched everywhere for it with no luck. All she could do was pray that if God wanted the book to be read, it would get back to her. One morning she felt an urge to look again. She heard if you don’t look, you’ll never know. There it was, right where it should have been—a miracle waiting to be read.” —Lynn Ramos

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Copyright © 2013 Annette Coffey.

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ISBN: 978-1-4497-8501-7 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 3/13/2013

I would like to thank Jim.

I never could have done this without him.

FORWARD

I was a married mother of three girls ages 24, 22, and 17. My oldest was married to an airline pilot and was pregnant with my first grandchild, whom I thought would be frightened by a grandma in a wheelchair like me. They lived in a big city about 2 hours away. I probably would not get to see my grand baby much. My middle daughter had just been married for a year. They lived in town and I was able to see her a lot.

She worked for us so we were a very close family. I managed to have great son-in-laws. My youngest daughter was still in school and worked two jobs so we hardly saw her. She had a good boyfriend who I thought was good for her but I don’t think anyone would have been good enough for my husbands’ little girl. My life was perfect and I was very happy. We would go on trips on a whim. We would pack up our BMW-Z3 and we were gone. I remember my favorite trip was rather spontaneous. We took off for Vegas with no reservations and nothing to do. The next day we got in the car to go get gas. We flipped a coin so we would know where to go. Heads we were going north. We were off driving all day and taking the scenic route. We almost ran out of gas in the hills but when we finally found a gas station it was an old world war station.

We were wondering how old the gas was so we only bought a little to get us going. We ended up at a lodge on Lake Tahoe and we stayed in a little cabin for two. It was so quaint and private. I had just gotten a new lap top for my real estate the day before. We left that in to try out so that we were able to watch a movie on it. The next day we met friends in Sacramento and spent the day with them and they took us to see the wine country of Napa.

We stayed in a small town called Calestoga. We were there on a Friday night so everything was filled up. We finally found a vacancy but it wasn’t cheap. My husband paid double rate just to let us in and of course my paranoid husband had conned them into letting him wash his car to get the salt off since we spent all day driving through the salt fields and it rained on us.

We went to a couple vineyards and bought some good wine. One vineyard we went to the owner gave us a tour and we tasted several different wines even from the barrel. They explained to us that they normally had no wine to sell because their clients bought it before it was actually grown as futures. They had just had their big open house and they had left a little aside for that so they did have some to sell.

We decided to take a cruise, on the Harley we just purchased, to Sedona or elsewhere. We were real bikers with all the leathers and harley gear. We had our own business. After working as a realtor for 10 years it just got too stressful and I quit.

We worked when we wanted and went out almost every meal. We loved to two step and we had a lot of good friends we had come to know well. We had a lot of friends from the airport and went out with them a lot. OK So you could say I was spoiled but I loved my life and never wanted it to end. It was getting more and more about my doing things I wanted and only caring about me. Anything I wanted, even if it made me very shallow and superficial.

I was living my life to the fullest for me, but not for God. Nothing but fun. If it feels good do it. If I wanted to go out for coffee I would and get my hair done or go shopping or go flying with my very dear friends I could. Everything was going too good. I was living life to the fullest never knowing if it would end. There wasn’t anything I wouldn’t try. Nobody would tell me there was something that I couldn’t do on my own. I was somewhat strong willed you might say.

When I was younger I had a list of things that I wanted to do before I was 40. I was almost thru the list but I hadn’t done 1 of the things on my list. With no support from my husband, he hated it. Ever since I was 8 I had wanted to fly. My family and girl scouts encouraged me, but not as a pilot. Women just didn’t do that. A friend took me up in a plane. His intent was to scare me but his efforts only encouraged me to love it all the more. I had to fly. Not as a stewardess as some would predict but as a pilot who could soar the surly bounds. I enjoyed the thrill of doing what people didn’t think I could or should do.

It would not be cheap, but I had just sold a friends apt complex so the timing was right. I needed to do it myself. I gave it all my free time. It was such a pleasure I didn’t mind.

As a realtor I was able to give it plenty of time. I soloed in no time at all. I seemed to be a natural. I was done in no time. Now I just needed a plane. Of course I wanted it to be different. Like the car I was driving at the time, a Mazda RX-8 the car of my dreams. I had gotten it from my husband for Christmas the year before. I had the need for speed. Now all I needed was a plane.

I planned a trip to San Diego with my family. To Coronado Island. The kids and Don loved the area. It just so happened that I knew of a couple planes there for sale. I didn’t want an average old plane like everyone else. So I had been searching on the web, and even flying to Indianapolis to look at one that was no good. I wanted a six seat plane so the whole family could go. There was my husband, our 3 kids, and my daughter’s new husband. So I conned the family into a drive up the coast.

So, you guessed it. Off to the airport in Carlsbad. I fell in love with the plane, but needed my mechanic to check it out. So we looked at it the next week and brought it home. We took it home at night. It was so dark out but it was the best time to fly. Now I just needed 25 hours for the insurance Co. We went to my grandfather’s 90th birthday. We went to our family’s thanksgiving. A good excuse to fly. The insurance wanted me to fly 25 hours with an instructor to get used to the plane.

I spent my 40th birthday in California at my instructors’ brothers for lunch. His wife and I hit it off right away and she was a great cook. We spent the afternoon at their small ranch in the hills. I loved flying. When it was done I needed more. The next step was an instrument rating. A license so I could fly in the clouds. I always loved to be learning. It was rather addictive so off I went. It was difficult but I loved it and knew it was in my blood. My husband did not like to fly much but he always tried to support me. He would get me flights with others .I think he hoped I would get my fill of it with them so I would knock off this nonsense.

We would go many places. Over Lake Powell, the Grand Canyon, Albuquerque, Gallup, and even to Wisconsin, but I never gave up on my childhood dream of piloting a plane. We even flew to a lot of nearby areas. We loved to go to somewhere for breakfast with our friends.

My favorite thing was to go to San Diego for breakfast with friends and be back before lunch. One time I went over to San Diego for breakfast and