Reading a book right now where something similar is happening. See it on TV on the time.

Ever happened to you? Have you thought someone to be dead, even mourned them, only to find out later that they were alive?

Do tell!

Yep, has happened to me. Ill post pics and do a write up here in a bit.

Like the way I feel about Ozzy Osborne, or in the moment, like someone rising from the casket?

Cause one is a premonition and one is gonna give me a heart attack!

Yes, me.

In 1982 I was in a motorcycle accident in which my noggin bounced off a car, then a gravel shoulder, knocking me out. It was a bad enough concussion ammonia caps didn’t wake me. Four or five hours were spent in the land of blackness. Suffice to say I survived, with a nearly twelve hour gap in my memory (the whole workday leading up to the accident and four or five hours afterwards).

About two years later I’m giving my sister and a friend of hers a ride to the friend’s place and we happen to drive past the accident scene. I pipe up “This is where my accident happened.” Note, this was before my spectacular motorcycle accident on the Beltway.

Her friend, seated next to me, turns pale as she turns and looks at me and asks when it happened and then replies “Everyone thought you died.” Apparently she witnessed the accident.

Smallish world, ain’t it?

Remember coloradohunter44 was dead a while back?

I almost pronounced someone dead once, that wasn’t.

Technically saved their life in the process of trying to decide.

Funny story I’ll type up later and add.

I had an old high school friend call me out of the blue once. He was shocked when I answered the phone. He had heard that I died in a crash. So, I haven't thought someone was dead but people thought I was dead. Luckily I wasn't old enough for Medicare or Social Security to think I was dead.

From 1998 to 2004 my wife and I became very close friends with a restaurant owner and his wife. we would eat there 2-3 times a week. Tysho-san owned Ban-ya in the Beaverton area outside of portland. He had started Dahruma, and a few other restaurants in the portland area prior.

Tysho would always tell the most interesting stories. For instance, I remarked on the garden he had created at the other restaurant daruma, which had been just up the road from Banya. He said yeah, I wrote a book on Japanese garden making. It's in its 3rd or fourth printing. Thinking nothing of it we let it go. Next time we were in there he hands me his most recent copy of the book and how he was making a few changes to the next edition. the book was festooned with notes and addendums. Inside was a picture of him, his wife, and his daughter.

Later he told us of his time in a martial arts academy, and how the highest level man of the academy wanted him to pose for photos because his technique was perfect. Sure as shit, next time we are in, here is a book with a 17 yearold Tysho-san demonstrating the moves.

Another story is how he needs up in America the first time. He opened restaurants for the benihana chain way back when it was first getting started. This one had me a bit skeptical, a few weeks later he passes us a scrapbook of him, and Rocky Aoki at nearly a dozen openings.

The one that took the cake went something like this. "I would fly my plane for the JDF from base to base in Japan. Then at night I would go and sample all the restaurants in the canton. When I left the JDF, I ended up starting competing restaurants in those same cantons. When they were profitable I would sell them. That is how I met Rocky."

So I asked him what kind of plane. He answers jet fighter. (he said a model but I don't remember it now. It wasn't one I was familiar with.) I am sure i rolled my eyes.

Next time I am in there, here comes another fricking scrapbook from his time when he was about 18-30ish. Him standing in front of a shit ton of planes in flight suit and helmet.

In 2004 we moved to Seattle and would see Tysho only so often. His health was declining. By 2005-6, his little banya was closed. Everyone thought he died. We stopped in the florist next to him and she said that she had seen the wife only the week before. She passed on our number.

Tysho-san called me. He had throat cancer and had been recuperating for the past two years. In 2007 he opened banya back up with the aid of his brother. I still have the local paper celebrating it.

On the left is his brother and on the right is Tysho-san.

As a celebration of his return, I asked if I could set up an omakase dinner for a car club I belonged to. We took deposits and had about 25 members and +1's drove down from Seattle as a show of support. we ended up having 15 courses, and 6 or 7 hours of fun. It was an amazing evening. Tysho, his brother, and his wife were in top form that night.

A year or so later he told me he was selling Banya, to start a smaller ramen restaurant. He made everything at banya, every sauce, every spice, every dip, every noodle. That kind of work was killing him and once again his health was in decline. He wanted to start a fixed menu ramen shop like in japan. Banya sold to a Korean family, and once again I lost touch.

In about 2009/10 he started to open a ramen shop, the space was picked out and things were going in, but it never opened. Close mutual friends to both of us had heard he passed away and the wife moved to japan to be with her daughter. That was confirmed in an odd way by a sign posted on the door of the ramen restaurant. It simply said 'Passed away.'

I was out in Seattle selling my house a few years ago. I went down to visit my parents and stopped in on the old Banya, at the time owned by a young Chinese man and his wife.

I mentioned to his wife, I used to come there a lot and knew the original owner.

She seemed taken aback. A few moments later her husband stops by my seat and we talk. Small pleasantries and he asks about the owner. I explain most of the above how he was, old japan cuisine in portland in the 90's and early 2000's. He nods and thanks me.

A couple of days later I take my kids to Banya. They knew Tysho and wanted to pay their respects, in the way that we knew how. I had told my wife it was surreal going back there, almost nothing had been changed since he sold it.

Our meal wasn't terribly big, and we were taking our time with it. Old memories and all, it was good to finally have a chance to say goodbye to such a dear friend. I had found out about his passing after moving to CT, and regretted not staying in touch more. He had blessed both my kids when he met them as babies and been an integral part in helping them develop a wide taste for foods when they were young. If ever they had a godparent it was Tysho-san and his wife.

I stand up and head back to use the restroom. It is down a little hallway that leads to the back door. As I look up from putting my phone in my back pocket Tysho-san is entering the back door. It was a triple take between the two of us that ended up in a giant hug. Both of us had tears in our eyes and I am sure the customers thought we were nuts as we hugged.





Tysho san, his wife and my kids.

It's never happened to me but I always think of "Big Jake" with John Wayne and Richard Boone when someone mentions this. It's a running gag throughout the movie, with practically everyone thinking Big Jake McCandles was dead, including Boone's bad guy character until he found out otherwise when it was a little too late.

Great story with a happy ending, DSgrouse. Thanks for sharing it.

DSgrouse,

That’s exactly the kind of thing I was looking for, thanks for sharing the detail and the pics!

In high school, I returned from a flight one night to be told, "call your mother, she thinks you're dead." An aircraft crashed that night during my flight, and the evening news gave my name as the deceased, due to a mix-up in the names. We didn't have a TV, but friends contacted my mother to relay what they'd just heard. As it turned out, I wasn't dead.

I trained with a man for several years who was a real family guy, who asked a lot of questions about getting an ultralight (small experimental aircraft), as an incentive for his son in achieving his scouting Eagle award. That man was killed in an ultralight one day at the airport. I was to have worked there, but did something else that day, and felt some guilt as I'd have steered him away from the choice he made that day.

I went to the viewing, and shook hands with the family as I entered the door to the room with the casket. When I got to the man nearest the casket, I shook hands with the deceased. I was shocked. I went to the casket, and there he was (dead), glanced back, and there he was standing in line. No one told me he had a twin brother.

Also in jr. high and high school, I was sick a lot, and ended up in the hospital for a month or more, several times a year. It wasn't uncommon to return to school, only to hear, "we heard you were dead." I never ran into anyone who was overjoyed that I wasn't dead, or that seemed to care much, beyond the casual remark.

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
I almost pronounced someone dead once, that wasn’t.

Technically saved their life in the process of trying to decide.

Funny story I’ll type up later and add.

An LEO friend was on a DOA call. Granny died in her sleep. Family, medics and police were down stairs talking. Granny walks down and asks if everything is ok. I guess she was heavy sleeper with a light pulse.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:
Remember coloradohunter44 was dead a while back?

I do seem to recall that event. My wife was very puzzled by that phone call.....

It happened several times with Abe Vigoda

I went to a violent, high speed crash that tore the car into three pieces. In the remains of the passenger cabin, was a bloodied motionless body that was cold to the touch. I called for the coroner and began the investigation. When the coroners investigator arrived on scene, he and I walked over to the passenger cabin and I pointed out the deceased. The investigator said "looks like he died instantly". A voice then came out of the wreck and said, "no I didnt".
Turns out the deceased was just passed out drunk. Which probably saved his life!

A production guy at work walked up to me looking like he had seen a ghost. Somebody had described to him a maintenance guy who had died from a blood clot and he thought it was me.
About 25 years ago I read an obituary about a guy I knew nicknamed 'Jeff' who had died. Jeff was derived by shortening his last name. Just recently I found out that Jeff was alive and well. His wild brother was also called Jeff and was the one who had died.

Abe Vigoda.

I had two separate suspects attempt to fake their own deaths. It didn't work.

One guy's friends even held a "memorial service" for him, never once thought the lack of a body was at all suspicious.