Interview: Holly Porter ~ The Near Death Experiences!

Holly tells an astounding story of being in the hospital with COVID for 70 days. What happened during those days, and the visions and dreams she had, have changed her life forever. She has realized that she is here, post-hospital, to lift others up, and that life is a gift we should never take for granted!

Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome back. I need to apologize for the late release of this episode. Life has been really busy and really crazy and I fell behind a little bit this week, But here we are. And here's your episode for this last weekend. This time I'm introducing you to Holly Porter and honestly, You know, We started the interview and I just let Holly go because she has so much to say and talk about and so many magical experiences, Miraculous experiences that particularly happened during her really, Really terrifying 70-day hospital battle with COVID. You know, She was put into the hospital with COVID and had no idea that she would be in the hospital that long, In a coma. The whole thing kind of shook up her family, Shook up her community, Shook up the entire scope of her life. But in that coma, Holly had several otherworldly out-of-body experiences and two near-death experiences that defy description. And honestly, She had so much to share, So much to share that I kind of just let her go. So this whole episode is just Holly sharing her joy, Her spirit. She's this incredible breath of fresh air. She's also an international speaker and has so many books, Is the author of so many books that have achieved best-selling status. So without further ado, Here's my truly miraculous interview with Holly Porter. There were some times she said, I didn't even know what to post on Facebook for everybody because everybody's hanging on thinking the next post, This is when you're gone, You know, Because it didn't look good. A week ago by and nothing had changed. She's like, I don't even know what to say. And so this is interviewing them and talking to them later. But I mean, My bill was a million dollars. I would love for you to introduce yourself to my audience. Who are you as a human being? Wow. That could be a loaded question. Well, I'm a mom, First of all, And most proud. We have eight adult children that are all grown now and 18 grandchildren. So they keep us pretty busy. I'm from a family of nine. My husband, Not so much, But we combine families when they were between like five and 19. So we raised them all in the same household and it was a lot of chaos. So that was a big thing. But I've been an entrepreneur since I was 12, I would say. Worked in my dad's office for less than minimum wage. I remember looking at the sticker on the wall that they had to post. $3. 35 was minimum wage and he was paying me $2. 50. Anyway, So I started early on with that. And I've had 11 startup companies, But not all related. I mean, When my children were growing up, I had a daycare in the home and then I've had a preschool and then I had a children's resale clothing store. And that's what I did while they were growing up. And then I got to do things that I really wanted to do. I have to say you look like you're 35 years old. Oh my gosh, I love you. I don't even understand what you said, The eight children. I know it was combined households. And you know what it takes me immediately back to is the Brady Bunch. Just combining household or just like having kids. I don't know. We did have his and mine, Not ours. Eight was enough. If you remember that show, I always said that. Because if we would have had one, I felt like we would have needed to have two for the balance because the age differences and I don't know, One, One between us and then shared eight others wouldn't have been okay. But really we had our hands full. We had all kinds of teenagers in the house and all kinds of things. And we both, You know, Work full time and how we're both entrepreneurs. So it was some crazy times. Two of our kids married each other a couple of years after we got married that happens all the time, By the way. Very common. Apparently we didn't know. And they're divorced now, Which kind of stinks, But yeah, We've had lots of, I mean, I could tell you stories for days. And so I hope that the listeners can just grab a little bit of what, What they need to hear today, Because I got all kinds of things. I can say everything not to do. Takes me about three mistakes in a row to figure things out. I'm kind of not, Not as bright on that end of the spectrum, But anyway. Oh my gosh, You're so funny. I love you already. I have to tell you this. Of course I want to ask, Did your family ever form any kind of band? Because it's like the perfect amount of people for a band. I know, You know, What's funny is nobody was really musical, But me. And I only saying I loved, I played by ear a little bit, The piano, But nothing to brag about. I just wanted to learn to accompany myself and I could barely do that. Then I took guitar lessons later thinking, Oh, I can take a guitar with me. I don't need to worry about finding. Cause I saying claim to fame is. I sang in front of about 30, 000 people at the Utah. Summer games Olympic qualifier with seven cellos playing the national anthem behind me. So that was kind of cool. And when I got COVID, We can talk about that. And I was intubated. I was in a hospital 70 days. So I was intubated twice, Had a trach. Had sepsis, All kinds of things. And was in a coma for about 32 of those days. So I lost my voice. Yeah, It sounds ugly. I just need to sing the blues now because it's like really low. I do have to tell you that I did grow up outside of Chicago. So the blues are near and dear to my heart. And, You know, Going downtown and just hearing incredible blues musicians, But also the voices and how they can grind into those songs. So. Yeah, I can do that. That's probably more than I used to be able to. And it just, You know, Just when you're hitting regular ranges, It's awful. And I don't know, I've talked to a couple people said I'd get it back and I'm hopeful. Have I done the work to do that? No, But you know, There's time. Well, Life is busy too. I want to ask you when you were 12 and an entrepreneur, Was it, Was it you working in your dad's office or did you have like a lemonade stand? What did that look like? Yeah. So I was the toilet bowl cleaner and the filer and the duster, You know, I was 12, Whatever, Whatever dirty jobs vacuuming, Whatever they, The secretary didn't want to do. So my sister and I were three years apart, But when you're that age, That's a lot. 12 and 15 is a big gap in ages as far as maturity. Although I was very mature. It was a big gap. So she, I must've been almost 13 because she was driving us too. So she would have been 16 or maybe my dad let her drive at 15 and a half with their permit. I don't recall. We were in Las Vegas then. But yeah, We would just do that. And then, You know, Like Fridays we'd go out to lunch with the secretary and she'd take us to a casino. And we didn't, We grew up very, Very. Sheltered. We I'd never even, In fact, I think I was 13, 14. Before I ever had even been in a casino and I lived in Las Vegas. So we just lived on the West side of town and, And we had no reason to go. We weren't gamblers. We weren't drinkers. Of course we were kids, But I remember when the IMAX came, That was like the big thing to go and watch the IMAX. And that was at a casino. So, But we'd go do the buffets with the secretary. And I just, It was fun. Oh, And we'd watch soap operas every day with her on her TV that was like this big, You know, It was a radio TV back then I'm old. So we didn't have big stuff. Anyway, We'd watch the soap operas and she got us hooked on them. I'm sure my mom hated every minute of that, But whatever. Yeah. I don't think a lot of people understand. Cause I think we're about around the similar ages is that at some point we didn't have cable. We actually had to watch what was on the TV and we didn't have a choice. It was just commercials. Yes. Yeah. And so I remember being a kid in summers, We lived with my dad during the summer and you know, Before the swimming hole opened, Which was at one, You didn't have a lot to do. So we'd turn on the TV and there was, You know, Like the bold and the beautiful. Oh yeah. Days of our lives, All my children. Yeah. And I was, I'm always, And still to this day, Fascinated how some of those people are still on the show. I know. It's so true. It's so true. They got their start there. No way. No. And they look the same. I know. Yeah. It's a little crazy. I'm a little jealous. Yeah, Me too. Well, So I, I just want to ask for my own edification because we brought up soap operas. What was your favorite as a kid? Well, With her, I remember my grandma watching them too. So I'm sure my mom knew about that as well. Cause my mom did not watch them, You know, Heaven forbid. And all my children, I think was the main one I watched. And even when I have my daycare at home, All the kids would take a nap. That was my thing. And I usually only got to watch one. And sometimes I'd have two on and kind of keep up, But it's just funny. You miss, You miss like six months, You go back and, And this much has happened. Right. I mean, I know. Yeah. Also like the most outlandish stories I've ever heard in any, You know, Like a clone of someone comes back and fools the loving and then dead. They, They always come back from the dead and you're like, Does that really happen? Well, Yes, It does actually. I can be, I can vouch for that. Well, I would love to know, You know, Through this conversation about soap operas and your mom and your grandma, Did you grow up in a religious household and what did that look like as a kid? Yeah, I grew up in a very religious household. So I was from LDS Latter-day Saint Mormon, Whatever you want to call it. And yeah, It's, We were very, Very Mormon and did all the things my mom was, You know, Your, Your women's organization president several times and just busy. Plus she had nine children. She had five kids under four and a half with a set of twins. I can't even imagine. I mean, I had a couple of kids that were close, Three kids that were pretty close, But I just, She had a four and a half year old, A three year old, A 17 month old and brand new twins. Okay. Well, She's like super mom. I don't even know if that's possible. It was actually. And if you ask everybody and her name was joy, I mean, Really, Can you get any better than that? So she passed away in 2019 the day after Christmas, Parkinson's took her. So we watched her really go downhill, But she had it for a long time. No, She was, She was really the best mom ever. Like she taught us what a lot of what she knew though. Right. It's, It's like, I don't feel like she had a lot of world experience looking back now. And I think that changes the way you look at things. And then we grew up in Las Vegas and then we moved to Utah. And by the way, We moved when I was 14 to a town called new Harmony, Utah. It's in between St. George and Cedar city in Southern Utah, Closer to Las Vegas. And I was kicking and screaming. My mom and I were the only ones that really didn't want to move. But my dad, You know, He had some teenagers and he was like, One's going wayward. We better get, Get out of Vegas. Right. So he moves us up their population at the time. And I need clarification on this. I was thinking about it the other day, One 98 and our family was 11. So I'm like, Were we 5% of it or did we move into one 98 and added 5%? I don't know that answer. That is a stop. I can't even imagine going from Vegas to a city that is one 98. And at 14, I was just getting a life. Oh my God. I was a mature 14. So I, I liked boys. I was just, I had really good friends and I just had to start all over. But the good thing was they, It was interesting because they said we could, We were more advanced in Vegas and schooling than Utah. So I could have skipped a grade, Which would have took me from junior high to high school eighth to ninth grade. And I chose not to, You know, Why? Because one of the boys from my church in Las Vegas, Who I always had a crush on, He like went with all my friends, Everyone but me, He moved and was up there. And so I decided, Oh, At least I'll know a good friend, You know, We'll go in there. And then he tells everybody I was his girlfriend in Las Vegas. And I thought I was the only one that wasn't your girl anyway. And then I ended up ironically graduating as a junior anyway. So it could have worked out. I don't know. It's just interesting how we make choices based on our knowledge at the time or our emotions at the time. And when you're an emotion, Decision maker, It's not always the best thing. Yeah. Oh my gosh. That is really fascinating. I can't imagine being a teenager and you know, Having what you think is your life, Right. And it's going to be your life forever. And then not only are you uprooted and put in a completely different place, But a place that is so small and so tiny that it's almost unbelievable. And I would imagine somewhat confusing. It was fun. I mean, We were on a 200 acre ranch. Our last name was McDonald. My dad tried to be a farmer, But he was not a farmer. He was an entrepreneur business guy. He was a Mason by trade, But it was funny how he'd bring in animals. And I'm like, Oh, McDonald, I can't get wet. I can't wait to get married to lose this name. You know, I mean, It was sad. I was a redheaded freckle face four eyed with the last name McDonald. It was not a fun childhood. No, I can imagine not. So, I mean, So it sounds like moving to new harmony was sort of a semi religious decision. Is that true? Maybe for my dad, It possibly just to get us out of, I had my older sister that was getting in with a wrong crowd. Okay. And I think he thought that would really support her. And what was interesting is I think she only lived there like a year with us. Maybe not even that. And then he sent her up north to some Vegas friends who had moved way to another small town called tree mountain, Utah, About seven hours away and sent her up there to go to high school. And then she actually ended up going and living with my grandparents and went to beauty school. So it was interesting that he moved all this up there. And then she ended up not really staying with the family. And I don't know. I don't, It's funny how you think of things later and you're like, I don't know my dad's in his later eighties. So I don't know if he'd even remember half the stuff anymore that he did, But it kind of looked back and go as an adult and raising adult children now. Huh? Why, Why, Why, Why? And so different. Oh yeah, Absolutely. I, I want to just ask now, When you referenced your grandmother who watched the soap operas, Was that your mom's mom? No, No, No, No. And both sides of the family. So I grew up with four grandparents. I feel very grateful that I had four and most for the most part, They both, They all lived in Las Vegas. My mom's parents would kind of bounce around a little bit, But not far. We still saw them. They were very involved. Grandparents, Both of them same religion and very religious. So it was kind of funny because my grandma, It was like, You don't want to get on her bad side, My dad's mom. And it's interesting watching how much my dad's like her. And then I am a little bit too. I see a lot of those in, In my, In my things I do and mannerisms and things, But yeah, She would just do funny little things. Like she was this grandmother's club. And of course she was president of that. And, You know, She just, I think, I don't maybe, Maybe as grandkids, We weren't, We were a little disappointing to her because she had like really wealthy friends and I don't really talented other friends with grandkids. And it was just fun to think back of lots of memories there, But a lot of good memories. Yeah. I didn't know until just recently that some, Like I didn't grow up with grandparents at all. I mean, I, I barely knew them. We didn't see them often, But also they passed away when I was quite young. So I didn't really have grandparents per se I've missed that. And it's, It's always fascinating for me to witness or see other people who still have grandparents or, You know, The relationship of my nieces and nephews with my parents that they are having an experience of grandparents and how precious that is. You know, It's a much longer story why I didn't really have grandparents, But it's, Those are precious, Precious, Precious relationships. I wanted to ask, You know, Cause you said that your mother, You know, She did things her own way, Religious wise, Like she imparted information in her own way. Was she kind of a free spirit or an original thinker? My mom was pretty passive. Like my, My dad was the type that would he buy her a new car and he bought himself a truck every year. I remember he do all these things too. And I'm sure he lost, Lost a lot of money on him. And then his business would buy him a brand new truck. Cause he was a piece pretty successful. I mean, We always had a motor home. We always had a boat. We had a swimming pool. I never really, I never knew, Huh? We had money. I think we had more stuff than we did money because entrepreneurs are a lot of times cash for, And I look back and I think, Oh, We were actually doing all right, But guess what? We never knew it. Like I never knew it. I worked for everything I had. My dad would pay for like our shoes, But we had to earn our school clothes money. I love that he did that because it created a sense of worth in what we have and what we can earn. And if we want to spend a lot of money on few clothes, We could, Or we could go spend by a bunch of cheap clothes and have a lot right. They never controlled any of that. My mom was quality. She was interior designer and a homemaker. She could, She catered weddings when we grew up. So we grew up doing that, The flowers and the cake. And back then it was like the tablecloths, The round tables that we put on top of card tables. I mean, She was very innovative in her own way. And then she would stash that money for her play money. My dad would give her her allowance. And in, I feel like back then and in our religion, The men were a little controlling. Maybe they still are. I don't know, But it just seemed like my dad would bring her a car, But she didn't get to pick out which one it was. You know what I mean? And it wasn't, It wasn't abusive. It was just controlling a little bit. And I feel like he's still that way. You know, He still likes to control the situation, But the biggest giver out there. So it's, It's so funny. You're asking all these questions. I haven't thought of this stuff for years. So good questions. Thank you. I, You referenced earlier before we started recording that you have been a hairdresser among so many other things. How did you happen to choose that job or, Or that passion? I guess, Was it, Was it a passion? Oh yeah, For sure. I don't do anything. If it's not fun, I'm not doing it. So I've had 11 startup companies, Not counting all the little things that I've done other things or, Or direct sell things that I did for products. I, And a lot of them, I had three or four usually at a time. So it wasn't like I just bounced from the next to the next to the next. Some I sold some, I closed some, I moved, You know what I mean? All different situations, But the hair I had a salon and spa, And I had the biggest one in Cedar city, Utah at the time. And I had that for 20 years. So we have a big family of hairdressers. I also did my instructor's license. So I did hair, Skin, Nails, Had all those licenses and then instructed train two of my daughters who did hair for a long time. Neither of them, We've kind of all gotten it out of, Out of it since COVID it seems like for no particular reason. But when I moved to another town, I sold my last salon. I, I just kind of kept moving. It would get bigger and then it would get smaller. And then it got really small. And then I just moved to a different town decided not to have a salon. Yes, Definitely a passion. It's like I knew that my body would wear out before the passion for it did. And what really ended it for me, I was actually doing some in the home, Which I swore I'd never do, But I had people that would travel to me. They fly in or drive in. And I just say, Don't tell anyone I do your hair. I didn't want them to know because I wasn't really advertising anymore. I would just do it for them. We became friends. And then when I got COVID, I ended up with lung COVID after that long journey, Ended up with rheumatoid arthritis and pulmonary fibrosis and you know, A lot of fatigue stuff. And I just, My body wasn't. So I still do a couple people here and there, But they don't tell anybody now I'm telling everybody. Right. Well, And I, I do think a hairdressing, Anything like that is art. It's artwork. It's a creative for sure. And it's like, You can teach people it's it's like, My daughters were both good in their own way. One was just super passionate about it. One was like it, Whatever. It's just a means to an end, You know, Single mom. So one was very successful, Very good at color charged a lot more, Always kind of had her own salon and the other one was just like, Yeah, Okay. Yeah. They can come to my house or I'll run a booth somewhere. I mean, Just their personalities are night and day of that as well. So. Yeah. And I also, I'm sure this is true for you too, Your hairstylist. I mean, Usually you become best friends over the years. You get to know the little pieces, The little stories of each other's lives. You become really close. It's your, Your hairstyles maybe can become your shrink honestly. Oh yeah. It's a lot cheaper too. Yeah. The relationship is, Becomes really close. At least that's what I've experienced. And I had a lot of families that were, Because I did every, I did children too, You know, Great, Great grannies. And I would have divorced couples. So I would do the new wife, The ex-wife and then all the kids in between. And I just always learned that I would be positive in saying something. It was usually true, But I definitely embellished how great they were appreciative that they took good care of their kids or that, Oh, I knew they did an activity. Oh, That was so nice that you let them do that. I was just trying to, Because I was dealing with two ex-husbands and an ex-wife at the time. And I think a lot of people came to me for the drama we were going through. I mean, So there was probably just as much therapy on the other end. Although I always looked for a positive outcome. It wasn't just to go in there and whine about everything with anybody. We just had a lot happening. And I was always involved in a lot of civic organizations and I was president or chair of everything in town. And, And I still stayed in, In Utah, By the way, For a lot of years. So I, I went back to Vegas a couple of times, But mostly Utah has been the home. I have to say that you are a perfect example of using your word to create beauty and joy and hope and positive feelings in other people. Cause I'm, You know, Not everybody thinks the way you do, Frankly. So my husband tells me. Yeah, Absolutely. I mean, They're coming in for a haircut, They're coming in for a color, Whatever they're coming in for. And they're going to leave not only looking fabulous, But with your words still on their heart and that that's a superpower. Yeah. I mean, You want to, You want people to leave uplifted, Not drained. Now I did have a lot of customers that would drain me. And I think there's so many skills I've learned now. I wish I would have had because yeah, I mean, I, I always had intuition. I have it a lot more since my near death experience, But I always, I always kind of had that gut and it's, I think everybody does too. Maybe not an extreme, But it's there. And sometimes we just need to listen to our inner intuition. And that's what a lot of people think. They don't have it or they just, What I think it is, They're not listening and I've had lots of powerful lessons with that. Sometimes it's easier not to listen. Oh yeah. You don't want the answer. It's not the answer you're looking for. So why would you want to listen to that crap? Yeah. You're like, I want this other, My expectations are higher. I want this other answer. I am too lazy. I don't, Please don't tell me. I mean, Believe me, It is when you ignore your intuition, When you ignore those messages, Things go South very quickly. Oh, So true. My husband actually, He learned pretty early on took a lot of lessons, But he learned pretty early on in our marriage to trust my gut, Because I feel like I got that mother intuition for his kids as well. They were in my home. And I, And so like, He didn't always follow what I would suggest. And then later he, He would admit, He'd just say, Or nowadays, If I say something, He's like, Well, Okay. Yeah. He'll, He'll agree with anything I want to do. And he just knows, He knows I have that gift of knowing that you just know something needs to happen a certain way. So he doesn't even question it anymore. Maybe he doesn't like it all. I don't like it all either, But we just do it. We just know that we follow our gut and we listen. And I did that when I was, Well, When I was put in my coma, I really feel like, I mean, God's my higher power, Whatever that is for your listeners. But I feel like that's why I was put in a coma because I wasn't listening. And I had a lot of people tell me that. And I was like, I know. And I couldn't go anywhere. I mean, 70 days stuck in a hospital, But literally intubation for 52 days. So you lose your voice. You had to learn how to swallow, Uh, Stand up, Sit up, Walk, Eat. Everything had to be relearned. I lost all five senses at one point, Which was devastating. It was like coma. Yeah. Put me in a coma. I get me out of here because you know, Many days I had that prayer. It's like, I'm suffering. And if this is it, Just take me now I'm done. But if I'm going to get better, Then let's get better. And yeah. And that's when I had a lot of my experiences and I was told some specific things to do with my business, With a nonprofit. And I look back now and go, Oh, That was so good. I listened. Cause now I'm seeing the whys and the hows and sometimes you just have to trust. It might not be what you want, But it's what you need. Yeah, Absolutely. So that's the perfect segue to ask the main question of the podcast, Which I would love for you to share any stories of magic, Miracles. I suspect we're going to talk about you being in the hospital and your coma, Whatever you feel like might be a gift to my audience might be a blessing for them. Maybe something mysterious. I know you probably have multiple stories, So I'm here for all. Oh yeah. We could have a week's worth of shows, Probably on stories. I will say, So mine was the biggest shift in my life. And I've had a lot was the COVID experience. It was fall, September 4th. I think's the day I went in the hospital 2021 there. It was the Delta version. I got, I was super healthy, Walked in on no drugs, Walked out on a dozen, Which is hard because I'm super holistic. So I worked really hard to get off of those, But after I got out, All the long COVID issues just started stacking up. I still have long COVID. I still have relapses. There's still some issues there. And it's kind of the new norm now. I do everything I can to get better, But yeah, That was my, My 70 days of hell, I would say. And I had, So there's three different things that I want to share. There were so many miracles too. I want to throw some of them in there. So I learned later and it took me maybe almost a couple of years before I learned that I was, I knew I was having out of body experiences. I had a whole bunch. I went back in time when I tracked it, It was mostly 165 years ago into a pioneer home. That was my great, Great, Great grandfather. So I visited there a lot, Took my bed with me. So I have like a chapter in my book coming out. That's me in my bed, Because I think subconsciously I knew I was aware that I was in that bed. And if I didn't take it with me on my out of body experience, I mean, I don't remember being in my body going, I remember I was out of body taking my bed. And I even jokingly say, I would have like this, I'd have an ambulance. Some of the days come and hook up to my room, Which was like a conics, A movable trailer thing. And it would take me on my journey for the day. And at the end of the day, It would come back and leave me there for my hospital care. I mean, It was just like some crazy stuff like that. So lots of stories around that. That's out of body. And then there's spiritual transformation experience. And it's basically that it's when you have a spiritual experience, But similar to a near death, Cause that's also usually spiritual, But it was specific where I, My mom visited me and told me it wasn't my time to go. And then I had all these people up here in front of my bed because I knew I was in my bed and they came in white and I knew all of them had passed on. Of course, I recognized all of them, Including my grandbaby who had passed away just a couple of days old, Six months before she was an adult, But I knew it was her. And so they all appeared. And my, When my mom said, She says, You have to fight. They all started chanting, Fight, Fight. And every time I'd hear the word fight a whole group behind it, Then here comes my husband and my, My kids and my friends. And all these people, Every time they would say would just appear in front of my bed up here. In fact, I had a painting commissioned that took me about eight months to get done to place. Everybody. Right. I can only have 26 people in it and there were thousands of people there. So many, I didn't recognize that now I know where all the perilous I was on. Cause I had friends, I had gotten COVID at conference and I had friends all over the world that only could talk to me because everything was shut down pretty much. And they would hang on to that social media posts. My sisters would put on, Gave my husband COVID. He couldn't come to the hospital for three and a half weeks while I was there. So that was devastating, You know, To have your, I could have one person every 24 hours. So my twin sisters younger than me, They took shifts and they were the busiest, You know, But they lived in that town and a few other people would come and substitute for them. Cause nobody had a clue. I was going to be there that long. I mean, It just, There were some times she said, I didn't even know what to post on Facebook for everybody because everybody's hanging on thinking the next post, This is when you're gone, You know, Cause it didn't look good a week ago by enough and had changed. She was like, I don't even know what to say. And so this is interviewing them and talking to them later. But one of, I mean, My bill was a million dollars. And one of the miracles was I in my whole life had never had health insurance. I don't know how we have that many kids and didn't have health insurance. We were lucky and blessed two months before I got sick. I had a friend that said, No, With this new Obamacare stuff, You will be shocked how reasonable it is. Let's just, Let's just look. And then she's like, Cause you know, COVID and I'm like, I'm not going to get COVID. So I get it. I get the insurance two months before and have a million dollar hospital bill. So that was one of my miracles. I ended up with a lung disease and right about two and a half months after we moved into a house, We, I was able to get a hyperberry and I don't know if you know what that is. It's an oxygen machine and it's a whole, You know, More of a home one. And I was able to get that, Which I think saved my lungs. And just like the stories behind everything that happened were just unbelievable. I had, I didn't have insurance, But I ended up finding out. So one of my high school friends, Her son worked for an insurance company. And he lived at like up North, Northern Utah. And he goes, Isn't that your friend that's in the hospital? That's so sick with COVID because everybody was talking about it because nobody got that bad lift, You know, They just died. And, And she says, Yeah, I think she has a policy with us. So I had bought a few years before a cancer policy because I'm a redhead and I had had some basal cell. Then I ended up with melanoma. I had gotten melanoma cancer twice since COVID, Cause it just catches everything on fire in your body. And this, So they would never cover anything skin related with cancer with me. So here I have this policy, But I didn't cancel it. Cause I thought, What if we get something else? Well, Apparently there was a writer on it and it paid cash so much per day if you were in the ICU. So I ended up with a like $30, 000 check that just came back to me. And we were in the middle of buying our house. I mean, It just was like all these things that were such blessings were just out of nowhere. So it was like, Okay, Your suffering wasn't in vain and, And you lived and all right, Now I got to get busy cause I was told to do things. And, And so, Let's see what else can I tell you? Near death experience was magical, But I came out of it and I felt kidnapped. In fact, My sister, She went and ran an errand. So I must've been doing better cause she ran, Run an errand come back in the door and she, I had to take an alphabet. So they tie your hands to the bed when you're ventilated, Which is horrible. Plus I couldn't see anybody cause I wear contacts. They weren't in her glasses were on my face. Everybody's in a hat mask, You know, Gown, They all look the same. And I could only see them. They were at eight inches in front of me. I could see their eyes to tell who they were. That was the only way. Taste and smell was gone. 90% of my hearing was gone from the ventilator for some reason. They never knew why, But I sounded like the Charlie Brown school teacher. That's how I, So I was grateful to be in a coma. So this particular month I was doing better. And so I would point to an alphabet that sometimes took me two hours to, To spell out one word. And I hardly had any energy. I couldn't, I mean, It was a miracle when I finally could hold my phone. I always wanted to know where my phone was, Where my glasses were. I mean the first, I have the notepad where the first word I wrote, You should see how awful it was. I, I wrote with a marker glasses. You can tell it says that, But it's like all over the place. So I'm spelling out K I D and she's, Oh, Do you need me to tell your kids something? No, No. N A P. And she's like, When I realized you spelled kidnap, She's like, I just left around an error. What happened? And she's right when you got done telling me that the doctor walked in to exhibit you the first time and take, Take that out and see how you did, You know, Cause your numbers were good. And so then you could talk. She says you couldn't talk very good, But there were spirits in the room. And I was having her check. She was opening the doors, The closets and the drawers. Well, I realized pretty quickly, I was the only one able to see them. Right. So I realized, Okay, That's what's happening. But I was, I, I always thought, Why'd I feel kidnapped? I just came back from this really spiritual place. Why did I feel that? I didn't figure that out until, Oh my gosh. Three over three years. It hasn't been that long since I figured out what happened. I, So two years after I had a hypnosis session, Which, Oh, Got clarified. I did it specifically because there were some gaps missing. And since I'm writing the book, I didn't want to miss any of the stories, You know, That I, There was something missing and I knew it. And, And so I had him do it on just that. And it just blew the doors open on a few things. One thing he did tell me was that was not his words, The hypnotist. He said more will be revealed to you when the time is right. And normally I'm the type, I got to know everything and I was like, So at peace with that, Because I thought, Okay, I probably couldn't have handled everything I got because I had a lot of COVID fog. Everything was overwhelming in my life. My health was overwhelming. My brain fog was overwhelming. I mean, I couldn't work. I couldn't function in Harley, But I'll tell you what, Within three months after getting on the hospital, I was told to start a nonprofit and I was told not to partner with a company that I pitched to the day I found out I had COVID sicker than a dog. A company that had a billionaire backer on this new tech company I was wanting to do. And I was told in my coma not to partner with them, That that was the highest and best good for the company. And I was told to start a nonprofit. So about three months out of the hospital, I have both those incorporated. I have no idea how I did all that. Like it was just the craziest stuff. I mean, Another miracle, 2021, I'm a real estate broker of 20 years, Even though I had all the other other companies too, At the same time, 2021, I only worked eight months cause I was in the hospital. And that was my biggest real estate year ever. And my husband also had this huge job with this construction company. Same. He, He just did really well. And it was crazy. It was almost like God knew what we were going to be facing. And you know, We were in the middle of buying a house. I mean, Just so many things. We lost the first house because it was under contract. We were living in a fifth. Well, Sorry, I'm throwing up all over you, But I'm trying to get in as many as I can. But we were living in a fifth wheel and we had to let the house go because they didn't know if I was going to live to sign. And so we got, Didn't get that house. So then here I am out of the hospital, Had to stay with a son for two weeks. They want to put me in a third hospital for rehabilitation. So I had to learn everything again. I begged him not to. So I stayed with a son for a couple of weeks and I stayed with my sister for a couple of weeks and just commuting, Even in the same state, But different altitudes ended up putting my 70th day was being out of the hospital full day. And then having to go back in just for one day for the oxygen issue. So that was my 70th, But just like, Then we had to go live in the fifth wheel and I couldn't even get in there for a month because I couldn't, I had no energy to lift the oxygen tank up the step to get in. Like I had no energy to even do that. So it was like, You just don't realize your health and how much you appreciate everything that's good about it. Don't look at what's bad about it. Look at what you can make better. Look at what you can know that you do have, Because if you woke up today, That's your, That's your first miracle. But the hypnosis session I did about the near death was that, That just clarified so many things. Another big message I like to share with people that I came out, Not remembering, I remembered in the near death, All about, You know, Lots of light things, Lots of the way things happen with people. The life review I got was only good. And it was so cool because there's so much bad I've done. We all done some bad. Right. But I didn't need to see that. And, And basically God said, This is, This is what matters. Like the goods, What mattered. And I was just like, Oh, But then I did. I also learned that I was going through a lot of pain with some family issues. Like I had the worst two years after, After I almost died was the worst two years of my life. Take every bad thing that ever happened to my life, Divorce, Everything included times up by 10. And it might touch the literal hell I was going through. And you would think everybody would gravitate towards it because you almost died. And it was like, I repelled them. It was like every relationship set my husband and a few close friends and a couple siblings was jeopardized. Like it was. The craziest thing. And you're like, I don't understand this. I look back now and I know, Like, I had to fight a brother for a grandchild that he ended up adopting. They let him adopt. It was like awful because he, I have had custody of him twice and he was only two and a half. And it was just like so many horrible, I had to hire two attorneys and fight DCFS. Now I look back and I see part of my philanthropy and part of my mission, What I'm doing in the future based on what I was told to do. I had to go through that because maybe there was two brothers and, And one was a teenager and one was a little one. And I think I had to go through that. And lose basically. I feel like it was the biggest loss of my life. I had to lose a couple of grandsons to. Save how many sons and grandsons in the future. To learn the lessons I had to have. And know to create when I'm going to create. I don't want to ever want to live it again. I would never choose it that way. And it was chose for me. Just like coming back from being in a near death experience. You know, When my mom appeared to me. She told me it's not your time. I didn't get to choose. And any of those experiences I had, I just came back. There was no choice to be made because I guarantee you. I would have stayed. And a lot of people that always wonder how did they get a choice? I'm telling you right now. It is. So much better than here. Take every, Every single. Good day you've ever, Ever had. And bundle it all in times of by a hundred, That might be one minute. Of being in heaven time. It's just, You can't even compare it really to anything. And so I would have chose that and. I didn't get to choose, Right? I was pretty much. So it's like, You got to get back here, Do what you're told. And get this mission over with and just be the good person you can be. Sorry. That was a lot, But that's just like a big summary of. Yeah. No, You're actually amazing at it. Summarizing and just telling everything. Well, You know, One thing I was thinking. Was, You know, You bought that insurance two months before. I'm not going to get COVID. Oh, I got COVID, But no one plans to then stay in the hospital for that long. No one plans on being put into a coma. I mean, Were there ever any moment, It sounds like just miracle after miracle just happened to like lift your spirits. Was that, Do you feel like that was part of it that you were going to be in the hospital for so long and your ancestors, Your supporters, The people who are, They just everything in the universe showed up to keep your spirits going. I think so. I, I, One time I remember the first month I was in there, Which was when I was worst. I think the first three and a half weeks from what I can track from medical, Medical records and conversations with others and texts and Facebook posts, Three and a half weeks were where all those experiences happened. That's when I was at the absolute worst. It was, They asked me if I knew what month it was. I was, I, A month of time had gone by and I had no idea. That's how incoherent. I mean, You're just, I don't, I mean, My daughter was there one time with me. She's kind of my healer daughter. It was, There's a lot of energy things. And she said they were, So I'm a, I'm a natural redhead. And if you don't know that about redheads, They react differently to medication, Anesthesia, Novocaine at the dentist. So like they wake up during surgery because if the anesthesiologist doesn't know your natural redhead or have those genes, Then they give you more. I mean, They know how to adjust it's real thing. And they were giving me fentanyl and what's the other one, The bad fentanyl is the bad one oxycodone. I think so. They were mixing those and they give those to you to keep you in a coma because if you're in pain, You'll come out of the coma. So I guess they, They keep you just way medicated. Well, I was laying there and my daughter said there was a nurse in the room with her. And she said, You were fine. And all of a sudden your heart rate went to like one 69 and your eyes roll back in your head. And she goes, I knew you were dying. Like you were dying. And she's like, All I could think of was to yell at him. She's like, Stop, Whatever you're doing, You're killing her. And that's what she knew they were giving me. And she's like, I said, She's like me, We're holistic. We don't like to do drugs. If we don't have to. And I don't know what he ended up doing, Whatever he stopped something. And she said, And then you came back. And she said, The fear in his eyes were she goes I'll never remember. I mean, I'll never forget that, That just that look in his face. I, It was like scary. He was scared. And she said what they were doing was every hour you were getting fentanyl and your body was metabolizing it every 20 minutes. So they were like overdosing, You withdrawing, You overdosing you withdrawing you. And just things like that. I mean, At any moment I got sepsis, Which I could have died from. I got another, I remember when I went to the second hospital, They came, Everybody kept coming in, Like all suited up. Like I was some freak, You know, They were, It was contagious. And this is like four weeks in, You know, Maybe five to my journey. And I remember asking my husband, Why, Why is everybody coming in? Like, Is there something going on? I don't know about. And he's like, They're doing that for your protection because I had something that was so bad that they said that should have killed me more than the COVID. And I survived that. So they had to culture or whatever. And that's just how they had to treat everything while till they knew what I had. And I don't remember what it was, But anyway, They got it all resolved. And it was just, I had good care. I mean, For all that was going on, I mean, Another, Another quick story I'll tell you, I was. When I was going to my near death member, I shared that I went in my bed a lot of the time. So my near death experience, I left in my bed, But I was actually in my bed. Okay. A lot of times I was with my bed. I was in my bed and this was going to my near death experience. And I was going down the hallway and I was in my room really intubated, But in my experience, I was not intubated and I was going down the hallway on my way to my death, Apparently. And I sat up. And it's funny how our personalities kind of come out, You know, Cause I like to be a little smart Alex sometimes. And I started shaking my finger at the receptionist telling her I rescind my DNR. I rescind my DNR. And I'm like, I don't even know if I had a DNR number one, Number two, DNR shouldn't matter in COVID because when you get intubated for COVID wasn't like I got in a car wreck and I was on life support. Cause I couldn't breathe or whatever I had COVID. Right. So it was so different, Even though so many died on the ventilator to have it done twice and still live. And then I was on the trachea for weeks, Like weeks. I think I was intubated for about three of those weeks trachea. I think for like another three. And so a long time, Well, 52 out of 70 days, I was on a ventilator. So it like, Usually you're, You suffer with organ damage, You know, Your heart's, I mean, They waited four days after I was in the hospital to intubate me. And I think, I don't know for sure, But I think it was because I was refusing. I probably was because my sisters were really good about doing recordings and they recorded the first call. Here's my husband. I mean, So I have the call recording, But they also did screenshots. And just looking at him as he was so sick too, He had to get on oxygen and he said he would have got better a lot faster. If he would have been home worrying about me, Not being able to see me. And it was, It was heartbreaking. And we were having this big long discussion. It's about a 20 minute call of my sister, My husband, And me trying to decide if I was going to let them intubate me. And at the end, Nobody wanted to make the decision, Especially them. Right. I mean, Do we make this call for her and have that? And so I must've known that like, I must've been too, To be known. They can't make that decision for me. And I said at the end, And I remember listening to the call later, Crying for myself because I thought, Oh, I wouldn't want to make that decision for anybody either. But I said, All I know is I can't breathe and I'm going to have to take my chances. And that was kind of the end of it. And then, And then they literally make you sign away your life, Pretty much. Paperwork to intubate you when you're almost dead. And I'm like, In real estate, We call that under duress, Signing under duress. How do they get away with that? Just crazy thoughts I think about later, But. Oh, Yeah. Well, You know, I'm thinking about you being in that hospital bed for so long, Having all of these really extraordinary experiences of getting glimpses of the other side, Feeling what the other side feels like, You know, Having all these people appear at the end of your bed, Just saying fight the universe, God, Everything showed up for you. And I go back to you. The conversations that you had with your clients as a hairdresser where, You know, You're optimistic, You're joyful, You're positive. And because you were, You're such an angel in general, It's like all the angels showed up for you when you needed it most and reminded you that you have work to do, That there are things, Your job, Your work is not done here, That, That we need you, That humanity needs you and what you're going to create. And, And so it's almost like on the other side, You come out like a super angel. You're like. Yes, You have repercussions. You have long COVID and your healing journey is not truly over yet, But like your spiritual journey has just exploded by leaps and bounds. And it's like, You're a superhero now because, Because you know the truth of things and you can speak to that truth and share that good word and do good works in the world. Just knowing pretty much that all of these people, All of these beings have your back and what an extraordinary gift, You know, For you, But also the gifts that you're going to bring the world. It's just astonishing to think about. Well, Thank you. I love that you said about having your back because that's a big one for me. It's a trigger and it's also a blessing. And I just had an experience where that grandson that my brother now has, I ran into him three times in the last like two weeks, Which never happens. And the first time I did, You know, He was over to me and it was, He ran across the sidewalk in front of a restaurant. We were both at, And, And I called his name and, And my friend who's got MS and then a walker, We were getting her back in the car. And she was so cute. She's like, Calls his name and she's like, It's your grandma. And it was like that for her to say what she did and go, Just, She didn't care what anyone thought, What anyone heard. She was just like, It felt like someone really had my back that it just, We all need that. And I think we need to realize how much people really need that is that they have your back. And another thing I wanted to mention about when I was shown in my near death on our experiences is that we are going to, We are, We are going to have to feel the pain that we cause someone. And I never knew that. And I didn't ever, I probably, It makes sense, But I didn't really give it a lot of thought. And I've had that discussion with a lot of people, But at the time, I can't imagine the pain that I had gone through that two years after on anybody. I mean, I would never wish that pain I went through on anybody, Let alone my worst enemy, Let alone my own brother. Right. I mean, It's just like, Oh, I'm sad. My heart aches that he's going to have to feel what I felt that breaks my heart because I don't want anyone to feel that. I just, I'm not that mean, You know? And so it's just something to remember as we go through our days, That that pain you're causing someone else. And sometimes we do it and we don't even know I I've done that. And I've had people come back to me later that I've done, Like been in personal development classes. And you're supposed to have good feelings with everybody in there. And this person like hated my guts. I didn't even know. And I had no idea. And it's something we worked through. And we ended up being really close after that, But I didn't have the issue. She did. I just was like, Wow, I can't, I can't say I'm sorry enough. And until I know you can't apologize, You know, You can't change. It's like my kids. I made lots of mistakes with raising my kids and being busy and doing all these things for others. Why they were probably getting a little bit neglected and there's a lot of power resentment about that from kids. Not just mine, Other people's too. And we have to remember, We did the best we could with the information that we had at the time. And then all you can say is, You know what? Yeah. I wish I would have done better too. I don't know how that could have worked out back then, But I'd like to start over now and not live in that and work, Work on being better in the future. And I've seen one of my daughters, Particularly a lot of a butting heads, You know, She wants to be nothing like me. And my husband laughs and says, Little does she know she's so much like you. It's like, Don't tell her that, You know, But it's like, As, As I've come out of all this now, I can see there's a lot of healing there just even though I don't know if I really have switched a lot of my behavior, But she's seeing things. And, You know, Like I'm asking her about personal things about her, Because I care about her, But I always have. And I don't think she realized that. And just the other day, We had a really healing text conversation and I was like, Okay, Maybe I am way different, But I also feel like I've always done that. And I'm just glad now she's able to see it. And I'm glad she's able to fill my heart a little bit more. Well, I think to your point, What you're saying is there is always the opportunity for healing and connection and forgiveness and understanding. Yeah. It's never too late, But if someone passes and you're not sharing that with them, You can always speak to someone on the other side. You're just not going to have a conversation most of the time, Like you would here. So why would you waste not telling them here have that conversation? Now I've realized the communication, How much can be changed by just so few words and not in a text, Right? Communication, Communication through text is so misconstrued. And if we just pick up the phone, I mean, I'm talking to you millennials mostly because they don't answer their phones. They just think text is going to solve everything. And maybe it does, But for, For us, Gen X says it does not. And he, You just want to make sure, Okay, What emotion was behind that. And you know, The dumb emojis, I didn't even know about those years ago when they first came out, I was telling this poor girl that was in the hospital. I was giving her the laughing emoji because I had tears sympathizing with her, But it was laughing. And she finally asked me why I keep laughing. Well, It's tears. And she's like, That's the laugh one. And there's a tear one with one. I didn't know. I mean, It's just like, Oh, And then she ended up passing away. You know, It's like, Oh, Well, I do sympathize. I do love her. I visited her in the hospital and went out of town to do that. And so it just, Sometimes it's just that communication. Different. I think about every five years being a totally general generational gap. So, Especially if you're married to someone that's five years older, Five years younger, You got to remember it's a whole different generation, 10 years, Even more so. I mean, I think that's about the timeframe we skip from like millennials to Gen X to, You know, Boomers. I think there's, I don't know. I haven't looked at the years, But at least 10 years in there. So just think about all the changes and, And how differently people are raised. And then when you talk about religious, You know, Backgrounds and how they're raised, That plays a lot of our character and who we are and where we go. I hope you all enjoyed the wild ride. That was the interview with Holly. She's really had an interesting life. And I think is testament to the fact that having and possessing just so much joy, Having so much belief in life, In the magic in life is kind of a superpower. And I believe that that's what helped her survive her hospital stay. Along with, Of course, The doctors and the medical professionals giving her their wisdom. But yeah, Sometimes it's our spirits and our unstoppability that will see us through these situations. We never could have imagined, You know, Holly had that divine call during her coma and she heard the voice of God urging her to start her nonprofit adventure bucket wish foundation. She wants to give back to the world. And I think we need more people like that. People who are willing to listen to the call and then create things that are for the betterment of others. Please do consider giving me a rating or a review. I'd be so grateful. My little withered heart would so very much appreciate it. Thank you for listening. And here's my one request. Be like Holly. I mean, I do have to say, I've kind of already alluded how you could be like Holly earlier in this outro, But Holly basically heard the call or heard what energy or spirit was asking her to do. And even though she did have to emerge from the hospital and do lots of therapy and physical therapy, She didn't let it distract her from creating this initiative, From bringing this beauty into the world, From following through on what God or spirit had asked her to do. So I guess I'm asking you to be like Holly and see where the call is coming in for you. Where is spirit asking you to step up? What is spirit asking you to create? And then be like Holly. And no matter the hurdles, No matter what you have to plow through, Do it. Step forward and create the beauty that spirit is asking. And truly you are the only one who can do this, That spirit is asking you to do.