My Name Is Erma/LittleSpider Sossman
And
I am A LSSL Survivor
As a child I was so excited when we moved into our new home, and especially when my Daddy
a plumber/electrician installed our new Kitchen Aid dishwasher but the happiness didn’t last long. Mom said it took
to much water so we continued on washing dishes by hand. I hated doing the dishes by hand, the water now shocked me and I
hated that.
My Mother thought Id throw a fit about doing the dishes because I was lazy, and one night
she was angry and decided to show me the water did not shock and Id have to find a new excuse for not doing the dishes, but
she soon found out the water did indeed shock and as long as she didn’t have to do the dishes, she thought it was funny.
She went and told my Dad the water was shocking the now us as I finished washing the dishes,
but as she Dad the water was shocking us he didn’t believe it was. So he went into the kitchen turned on the smaller
water faucet as not to bother the dishwater and it didn’t shock him, so the problem continued on for years after that.
Like I said, Mother thought it was funny seeing everyone else get shocked so shed make
us kids (my cousins etc.) wash our hair in the Kitchen because she knew the water would shock us, not once but over and over
again even though we screamed or cried not realizing what danger we were truly in.
Several years later Dad had to do the dishes when Mother and I were out of town, and he
got the shock of his life it wasn’t long after that it was fixed where it never shocked a one of us again.
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The second time I was shocked was when I went up on the roof of our house to help my husband
work on our water cooler.
My youngest Son Steven was busy watching television and it was his job to turn the cooler
on and off when he heard his Dad yell and that he was doing, on and off, on and off the cooler went.
Finally with water hose in hand, barefoot on the hot tin roof I kept wetting my feet to
keep them from burning, not thinking I placed my left hand on the cooler and heard my husband yell, Turn it on.
He yelled and yelled for our son to turn the cooler off, but it was as if he couldn’t
hear us screaming. I couldn’t brake loose from the cooler period. Finally the cooler went off and the cooler released
it grip on me.
Even the doctor laughed saying things like, Boy, I bet you got a charge out of that one,
or I bet you wont do that anymore now will you? So no one ever took it real serious as I was still up and around.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
The next time I was shocked was shortly after we bought our older trailer to live in.
I had been outside washing the windows and awnings and everything seemed fine. Then when I moved around the trailer a wire
somehow fell from overhead without me seeing it and the 220 bare wires were touching the front of the trailer near the top
of the roof that the electrician my Dad had hired was working on. The electrical wires were being run over head to shorten
the distance to the plumbing shop where the power source was needed. I don’t remember how it happened because it happened
so fast, I do remember screaming out, and my Dad heard my screams, seeing what was happening, he grabbed a board that was
laying near by and hit me with it knocking me free from the power that was running through our trailer.
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Then Came The Lightning
My husband, son and I had just moved to Arkansas where we were to run the family owned
country store in Pike County. A pretty place of sorts, a mountain behind the house, a little stream running adjacent to the
property not very populated were we were so yes, it was much different then our home in central California we had just left
a short time before hand, but the community there made us feel so welcome and we knew this would now be home, so adjusting
from city to country life would definitely be different.
I must admit we were all a little nervous of the storms, and we were to soon find out we had reasons
to be, storm after storm rolled through and the lightning always hit the bridge a short distance from the house, but the people
in the community told us, Ah, there just little thunder showers, they wont hurt nothing, don’t worry, well let ya know
if there’s a major storm rolling through. I’m not for sure about my husband or son, but these few little words
sure eased my mind a bit.
Mr. Mullins had come out to the store to help us finish up on paper work, and to tell us who received
credit from him and who didn’t etc. As we worked along, there was a clap of thunder, then another, and another, lightning
begin to hit the bridge and the big lightning rod at the corner of the store, the sound was enough to scare a person to death,
my husband, son and Mr. Mullins stood midway of the long counter and I was glued to the screen door it seemed watching the
trees twisting as Id never seen them do before, the little creek was no longer a little creek but a raging river, the wind
was blowing hard and harder, trees were snapping off as if they were little twigs, and then thank the Lord, it stopped just
that fast. There was nothing, everything was still as could be, I was so excited the storm had quit I ran outside, past the
little drive, then the gas pumps and into the middle of the street, when Mr. Mullins yelled telling me, Get inside now! its
a tornado. My husband and son was yelling at me to get inside, the words connected and I ran back inside the store grabbing
the medal handrail on the screen door as I shut it, it seemed as if I was glued to that screen door again, I couldn’t
move frozen in fear, I held onto the medal bar and stood leaning up against the screen door, (my left shoulder was touching
the screen, and my head was near the screen as I didn’t want to miss one bit of what was going on outside, about that
time a big bolt of lightning hit in the center of the road where I had been standing. It popped, crackled, sizzled like, you
could actually see the sparks as I call them bounce in all directions upon impact, I watched as the lightning bounced towards
the gas pumps, and I remembering saying, Lord, please don’t let it hit those pumps it would kill us all, and about that
time I felt the shock go through me. Still I couldn’t move away from that door yelling, It shocked me!, the door shocked
me. I could smell something burning like when Mr. Mullins said, Don’t worry, its only the static from the lightning,
you’ll be fine, get away from that door.
My arm and hand hurt terribly, but I didn’t want to be a whine bag so I tried to be a big girl
after all I had been shocked before and not wanting to cry knowing my husband would say, He knew I wasn’t going to like
it there again, so I didn’t say much about my pain, shucks since I had been shocked before and lived through it I just
forgot about the incident and for many years tucking the bad incidence in the back of my mind, I forgot about it.
Now when I look back on the incident, I realize my pain was most likely caused from the lightning,
my depression, short and long term memory loss, I couldn’t say many words right, seizures that I had never experienced
before, the tremors, and jerks during the night that would remind me of a parent shaking a child in anger. Terror would run
through me at times when Id see a flash of sorts and Id get up immediately if I was laying down not knowing what would take
place next. I guess I just felt safer up praying. Then my constant earache, arm pain etc. caused me much grief and when I
think about it, my health went down hill fast as I was always in a doctors office it seemed.
I’ve been diagnosed with, PTSD, Convulsion Disorder (lack of motor skills), High Blood Pressure,
TIA’S (Mini Strokes) Seizure Disorder, MS, Fibromyalsia, Cancer (Shoulder that was touching the screen) and the list
goes on and on.
People have laughed at me because of the crazy things I do at times, Example, I went into the kitchen
to get a pizza out of the freezer, and that I did. I opened the box, took the plastic off, put my pizza on a plate, picked
the plate up, opened the microwave, shut the door, started it, and then waited for the beeper to go off. A couple of minutes
later, the microwave beeped, I went into the kitchen opened the door and said, Grandson, where’s my pizza? he looked
at me as if to say, What? I accused him of taking my pizza jokingly because he loves to play tricks on me, as he tried to
convince me he didn’t take it he started laughing saying, There it is, its right there pointing to the dish cabinet.
Sure enough, there was my pizza on the plate, I had not only taken the plastic off of it, I had put it back on, set it up
in the clean dishes, started the microwave and waited for the beeper to sound, and once again the laugh was on me feeling
foolish I had to laugh my stupidity off again. Another example is this: I talk backwards at times, or I simply cant find the
proper word to use, and yes I’ve even thought about not talking period, but then Id only be hurting myself more in the
long run. So each day I try to work with my brain, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t but I know I have to
keep working at it if not I’m doomed for sure.
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Then the second time I was in-directly hit with lightning was when I ran outside quickly to roll up
the windows in the car. It wasn’t raining yet, there was no thunder that I had heard, nor had I seen any lightning before
running outside. Just as I was about to open the door on the car, there was a bright flash of lightning way up in the sky
it seemed, but I felt the familiar shock run up through my feet, legs and on out the top of my head Still I didn’t really
think about it until my brain short-circuited a few years later and going from doctor to doctor to find a cure for all of
my ailments did I begin to look up different things on the Internet. I call it my healing process.
My health had rapidly went down hill faster then fast and for years, people had laughed at me, called
me crazy adding to my depression but I didn’t make the connection to being hit in-directly with lightning until I found
this wonder group.
I’m not even for sure how I found the lightning strike group other then I was searching for electrical
shock victims as I had also been shocked twice with it and an Uncle had just been electrocuted one day at work not long before.
(I just figure the Lord used my Uncles death to get me interested in searching for answers.) So I’m thankful I found
the group because I’ve learned so much from everyone there, and many times I find new hope by hearing what others are
going through themselves. I’ve learned that most of my health problems are due to being struck my lightning and shocked
with the electricity , and research is also helping me learn how to fight these horrible illness that I now have and the one
thing that has helped me more then one of these many prescriptions I have for one thing or another is Jesus, prayer and the
support group I belong to and hours upon hours of prayer and therapy.
For awhile afterwards I was terrified of the storms but prayer has taken that fear now, and I’m
ever so thankful for that because my life for years were terrible Id watch weather station all the time, we bought a weather
scanner, I had to know where the storms were no matter where we were or if we were traveling in stormy weather Id be a nervous,
sick wreck, if the storms were in California, Id worry for days until the storm reached us and, then when the storm hit and
Id become deathly ill and it went on like this for years until Jesus took that fear completely away as I learned to stand
on his promise in Isaiah 41:10 and Job Chapter 37 and 38 leaving me with a deep respect for the electrical storms that come
each year, and a desire to help educate others about the effects lightning have on people when hit directly or in-directly
by this amazing force I now call Gods Hand.
And for the record once again without Prayer I don’t believe the progress I’m making now
would be coming along very well at all Why? because Id still be caught up in depression, self-pity and tears. So through it
all, I have to thank and praise the Lord for taking care of me as my healing comes little by little and in a gentle way each
day. I’m also finding its better to laugh at the crazy things I do . As to cry because I now have high hopes in being
healed completely as the Lord never forsakes us and I don’t plan on ever falling back into the deep depression I once
knew in the name of Jesus, I wont as Ive learned over time how to yield to the word of God.
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Number Of Times That I Can Remember The Lord Saved Me
1. Under Tree
2. School swimming pool
3. River
4. Mouth of the Bay when the waves became big and violent and it was if the ocean had opened up and
we could see the bottom of the ocean as we went crashing towards it.
5. Boat nearly capsized as a rescue boat sped to help man in need, mouth of the bay.
6. Blinded on the way to the coast/nearly hit the bridge.
7. On the way home from the coast/ barely escaping a head on collision, could see the girls expression
and the freckles on the ones face.
8. Miscarriage in Riverside
9. Hepatitis
10. Lost in the mountains
11. Coming home from the coast Mom driving/big truck pulled out right in front us/car stopped on a
dime and just before we hit the truck.
12. Aunt Dottie and me going to Bakersfield/ big truck pulled off of dirt road on a blind corner.
13. Peterson
14. Man with the knife back of shop.
15. Walking in on the robberies at Ranch way 3 different times each time robber had just left the premises./once
I was in the back of the store, robber didn’t see me.
16. I Argued with a would be robber in National City/ jewed him down to 50 cents.
17. Argued with another robber, police caught him.
18. Mexicans mail breaking into Tulare home/police intervened.
19. Oakland Earthquake/ man grabbed me and held me between his legs as he shield my head and body from
falling derbis.
