Kingsley Reister
Member
My youngest son showed signs of a past life early on. I remember doing the same as a child but I was made fun of by my parents and siblings. Even though I was very religious when my son was young, I still knew there was something unusual going on. He is an "old soul" like I am and is something that most people he meets see in him. He is now 24 and has struggled with depression most of his life. Since I suffer the same I always put it to just heredity which it might be. I watched a video of Carol speaking on Youtube today which brought me here as much of what she said strikes home.
My son was born in the fall of 1994 and I named him John. To the family he has always been called Johnny. He always had a fascination with race cars even when he could barely communicate. I remember clearly when he was about 18 months, we were flipping through stations on the tv and passed a stock car race. He pitched a fit until we went back to it. He got his cars and sat there and played with them while he watched. From that time one we all started watching the races as a family because he was so obsessed with them. As he got a bit older between 2 and 3 he insisted he was a race car driver. He did not say that he "was" but that he "is". We started buying him cards with the drivers on them and by three he could sit there and tell me their names as I went through them. When ever we got to Johnny Benson he would get over joyed and yell that it was him. About three and a half we were all so into it now that we drove him six hours away to go to the Dallas speedway. It is very loud so we all wore ear protection but he LOVED it. He would jump up and down when the cars came by and you could feel the vibrations. Unlike most 3 year olds he was completely fixed on the race most of the 4 or 5 hours it took. Eventually he was so worn out he fell asleep leaning on his dad. We took pictures because we could not believe a kid could fall asleep 10 rows from where the cars where wizzing by. That was about the last 45 mins of the race. When we were walking in a spectator near where we were parked asked him "Who's your favorite?" he said said proudly "Johnny Bennson because that's ME!"
His obsession with cars and racing never went away though he eventually stopped talking about past racing in the first person. He had a Datsun from 1980 in high school that he rebuilt (all self taught) and took to a few small town races. Unfortunately his need for speed ended up with the Datsun around a tree the fall he turned 18. He was pinned for 45 mins and life-flighted. The firemen could not believe he was up and about when he showed up two days later at the station to thank them. Other than a 3rd degree burn where his leg was pinned and a couple of fractures in his leg he was not seriously hurt.
He ended up going to a tech school the last year of high school and then to a year of school in Houston for mechanics. He now has a restoration and repair shop with his best friend. They are working towards entering the young gun competition next year. He has an obsession still with old cars having another Datsun and a 1954 Chrysler that he is restoring. The problem is, he struggles daily with depression and I worry about loosing him to it.
I want to get him help, and I have started researching other John/Johnny's that passed before him that were race car drivers. It seems overwhelming and I for one do not know how to get him the right help mentally or where to start in this research. I research ancestry and am very good at that so I figure I can apply those skills if I know how to focus in the right things. Help and suggestions would be most welcomed. My hope is to get him some help with the depression without mentioning anything I might find out. We have told stories over the years so he has some memory of why we all got into racing.
My son was born in the fall of 1994 and I named him John. To the family he has always been called Johnny. He always had a fascination with race cars even when he could barely communicate. I remember clearly when he was about 18 months, we were flipping through stations on the tv and passed a stock car race. He pitched a fit until we went back to it. He got his cars and sat there and played with them while he watched. From that time one we all started watching the races as a family because he was so obsessed with them. As he got a bit older between 2 and 3 he insisted he was a race car driver. He did not say that he "was" but that he "is". We started buying him cards with the drivers on them and by three he could sit there and tell me their names as I went through them. When ever we got to Johnny Benson he would get over joyed and yell that it was him. About three and a half we were all so into it now that we drove him six hours away to go to the Dallas speedway. It is very loud so we all wore ear protection but he LOVED it. He would jump up and down when the cars came by and you could feel the vibrations. Unlike most 3 year olds he was completely fixed on the race most of the 4 or 5 hours it took. Eventually he was so worn out he fell asleep leaning on his dad. We took pictures because we could not believe a kid could fall asleep 10 rows from where the cars where wizzing by. That was about the last 45 mins of the race. When we were walking in a spectator near where we were parked asked him "Who's your favorite?" he said said proudly "Johnny Bennson because that's ME!"
His obsession with cars and racing never went away though he eventually stopped talking about past racing in the first person. He had a Datsun from 1980 in high school that he rebuilt (all self taught) and took to a few small town races. Unfortunately his need for speed ended up with the Datsun around a tree the fall he turned 18. He was pinned for 45 mins and life-flighted. The firemen could not believe he was up and about when he showed up two days later at the station to thank them. Other than a 3rd degree burn where his leg was pinned and a couple of fractures in his leg he was not seriously hurt.
He ended up going to a tech school the last year of high school and then to a year of school in Houston for mechanics. He now has a restoration and repair shop with his best friend. They are working towards entering the young gun competition next year. He has an obsession still with old cars having another Datsun and a 1954 Chrysler that he is restoring. The problem is, he struggles daily with depression and I worry about loosing him to it.
I want to get him help, and I have started researching other John/Johnny's that passed before him that were race car drivers. It seems overwhelming and I for one do not know how to get him the right help mentally or where to start in this research. I research ancestry and am very good at that so I figure I can apply those skills if I know how to focus in the right things. Help and suggestions would be most welcomed. My hope is to get him some help with the depression without mentioning anything I might find out. We have told stories over the years so he has some memory of why we all got into racing.
. Yes Johnny Bennson is alive I think that it is more about the name Johnny/John. I found a list of all the drivers that have passed with that name before 1994. The key thing I am honing in on is the utter obsession with Datsuns and someone that had their hands on with the cars as he picks it up so easily.