I watched the last half dozen miners come up and....

...it struck me that those men have actually cheated death. I think I, and anyone who has had life giving surgery, have a bit of insight into their range of emotions, having also cheated death. I was told I had little time left and I needed multiple bypass surgery soon if I was to have any chance of survival. That was 20 years ago. I was 49.

When you become fully conscious and are lying there alone in the middle of the night, reflecting upon what has truly happened to you, and you realize that you are now, suddenly, going to be able to live a basically normal life and that the immediacy of death has been suddenly been lifted from your every waking thought, it becomes very appearant just how fragile life really is, and that now you have the opportunity to alter your life, and relationships with those around you. You are on an emotional roller coaster for several weeks.

I was also impressed with the way in which the Chilean government handled the entire operation. That is a legacy that will be a source pride and accomplishment to follow Chile for years to come. Yet we, the most powerful nation on the planet, can only reflect upon the political mire, fraud, and national disgrace of how New Orleans, and the gulf spill were managed.

Maybe Chile should be OUR wake up call.

It was indeed a miracle that all those miners were rescued without a hitch.

I have also cheated death a few times myself. I won't go into all the details, but I've come close to death 7 times in my life. Somebody upstairs has been watching over me.