From Under the Rubble to a First Breath of Fresh Air: A New Beginning
Nearly 30 years ago, Amy Downs sat on the third-floor credit union of a nine-story federal building. A moment prior, it had been a typical, repetitive day at work for her as a teller. Next, a roar pushed her three stories through the floor, and she found herself buried beneath 10 feet of rubble. Amy is a survivor of the Oklahoma City Bombing.
I spoke with Amy to explore how she retrieved a sense of hope in those dark hours underground and after.
After the fall, Amy describes hearing men's voices. Yet, as another explosive was suspected, those sounds disappeared. She feared that this would be the end.
In the six-and-a-half hours that Amy spent covered by debris in the disaster area, Amy shared, "I thought about my life, how I really had not lived. Just wishing for a second chance, if I could have a do-over."
For centuries, people have described a "life flash before my eyes" experience during a life-threatening experience (Humphries, 2018). As we come to the end of our lives, it is natural to take a review. Individuals with a terminal diagnosis will routinely take a look back through their lifetime of memories (Jenko et al., 2007), reminiscing on the highlights and answering the question, "Did I have a good life?" The great psychologist Erik Erikson described a final stage of our psychosocial development meant for the most senior of........
© Psychology Today
