When I was 18 years old, I had to be revived. My heart just stopped working. There was no reason or diagnosis for my heart-stopping. No drug use, no previous heart condition. I just literally dropped dead in front of my parents. Everything happened fast, and I wasn’t sure of what I was experiencing. After being revived and told that I was revived, I realized what I had experienced was my thoughts and feelings while the rest of my body was not in use. I was experiencing slipping away into that bright light that everyone had spoken about before. I was one of the lucky ones because I got to come back.

There was no reason for my heart to stop that we could find, so there was no reason for it to have restarted either, I suppose. It just did. My first thought when I knew that I had been brought back to life was that I knew that I had more to say, more to do, and more to experience… to find purpose. I was afraid that it would happen again, and I wanted to be sure that I could do all that I could as well as tell everyone that I loved them. And if I knew that moment was coming again, I hope I had enough time to tell all of my loved ones how much I love them. But the end of physical life doesn’t work off of our schedule. It needs no reason or cause. We hope that life ends with us in our elderly years surrounded by our loved ones. But those are the lucky ones as well. Everyone that I have lost in this life including the temporary pause of my own life, has happened in unfortunate, untimely, tragic, quick endings.

It took years for my young brain to digest the opportunity that my misfortune bestowed upon me. It took even more years for me to work my way out of the economic threshold that I was born into so that I would be able to provide myself with opportunities to do more with my life. More time to educate myself with purpose and find joy. The pause of my life compounded the stubbornness of my character into persistently chasing purpose. All while giving my best effort to minimize worrying about the future and the guarantee of life’s unpredictable and inevitable end. So that the peace and joy of today are not ruined by the worry about tomorrow.

With Hereafter Vault, I can leave behind a heartfelt message to my loved ones, so they can hopefully find comfort, wisdom, and knowledge of my love and appreciation for them. I want everyone to be able to do the same. We can do many great things in this life, and it seems to me that we also have something to offer in our afterlife: A gift that we can share if only we can find the courage to tell our story and express our love. We plan for the future and live for the day. No matter the resistance, one day will be our last. We see it all over the world; messages from an ancient past. Stories and wisdom carved and painted on rocks and walls. On those enduring materials to be sure that their story was here to stay. So that their story is available for all future beings to know their stories. Because the truth of their story matters and so does ours. Pictures and memories serve us well, but memories and pictures fade. Following my purpose, I hope that we have created something, a message that will not fade. The delivery of the most sentimental treasure anyone can ever have. I do not look forward to the day that my loved ones will receive my message, but I am thankful that they will have it. Just the same as we would love to have the same message from the loved ones we have lost. Put all your heart into the time you have left, and don’t worry so much. Love, respect, and cherish every day!