Deep down, I am a big, ol’ fraidy cat. I am afraid of a lot of things. Here are some of my fears.

Spiders. Well, let me clarify. I really am afraid of anything with more than 4 legs, but spiders are the most terrifying. It doesn’t matter how big or small, I’m terrified of them all.

Tornadoes. I think this fear stems from my childhood in Nebraska. I had never heard of a tornado before I lived there, and the first house we lived in when I lived in Nebraska did not have a basement, so if we had to take shelter, we had to go to our neighbor’s house. May 6, 1975, there was a terrible tornado in Omaha, and I remember being outside going to the neighbor’s house and seeing the funnel cloud above us. What prompted my mom to hustle us over to the neighbor’s house was seeing the trees in the front of the house blowing in the opposite direction of the trees in the back of the house. I have never forgotten how scared I was outside, and to this day, almost 50 years later, I am still petrified of tornadoes. I start to get uneasy during any storm. I will do anything to avoid being home alone during a thunderstorm.

The supernatural, especially demonic possession. I don’t even like to think about anything supernatural or talk about it. When I was a teen, I watched the edited version of The Exorcist on television, and it scared the living hell out of me. And then I read the novel. I don’t know why I did that because all that did was solidify my absolute terror. If I wake up in the middle of the night and for whatever reason start thinking about this movie or book, I immediately start to pray the Our Father in hopes it will keep me safe.

Prison. I have no idea why I am so frightened by the thought of going to prison, but it scares me to my core. I will make sure I am extra careful about things like driving in the neighborhood because I don’t want to be speeding and hit a kid or a person and kill them and then end up going to prison for it.

Death. Maybe when I am older, I won’t be afraid of death. But right now, I am scared of dying. I have too much in my life to live for and so many people I love, I just can’t stand the thought of not being here with them, and honestly, it break my heart to think of any of them possibly hurting because I am gone. So I will do everything I can to make sure I stay alive for a good, long time!

Maybe my fears are irrational, but they’re fears I have. Some, I have had to face and will likely still face (like spiders). Some, I hope I never have to face, like tornadoes, the supernatural, or prison. Death, I know I will have to face one day. All I can do is hope I’m ready when it happens.