Sammy Kershaw Says He Owes His Life to Guardian Angel

Sammy Kershaw believes in the supernatural. In fact, he says he owes his life to a guardian angel. In this very candid confession from the country star, we hear the story of how his plan to commit suicide several years ago was thwarted by what was perhaps divine intervention.

"I was living in Oklahoma. I was in the dry cleaning business," Sammy tells The Boot. "My second wife was a legal secretary. One Friday afternoon, I got served with divorce papers, and on Monday they were signed. I was living in the back of the dry cleaners. I had no family and friends there, and I was a long way from home. Things just kept getting worse, and to be honest with you, one morning I was going to blow my brains out. I had a shotgun, and I went into the boiler room and sat on a bucket and put a stick across the trigger. All I had to do was put my feet on it, and it was over.

"About that time, the buzzer went off at the front door of the cleaners. And I'm thinking, I can't do this in front of anybody, so I got up and I sat [the gun] in the corner. I walked out into the front part where the customers come in, and it was a little old lady. She had to be close to 70 years old I guess, but her hair was dyed jet black. She was carrying a little patent-leather black purse around her arm ... and little black-patent shoes and a dress, like ladies would dress back in the '20s and '30s.

"The funny thing that hit me was she didn't have any clothes in her arms. So I said, 'Can I help you?' And she said, 'No, I just came by to see how you're doing.' And we talked for just a couple of minutes. It was the weirdest feeling I got in my life. And then, all of a sudden, she said, 'Well, I'll be checking on you again from time to time.' I had never seen her before, and she walked out the front door.

"Now, I'm in this brand new little strip mall where there were four or five stores already built, and there were only two open – the dry cleaners and a convenience store. As she walked out the front door, I hurried up to follow her out to see where she was going. I opened the door, probably five seconds after her. I looked outside -- this convenience store was very busy, cars all the time -- but when I opened the door, I got this weird feeling that I was all alone in the world because I was the only person that was there – no cars, no customers, no traffic on the highway and no lady.

"I remember walking back into the dry cleaners, walking straight to the back, unloading that shotgun and never thought about taking my life again. God has looked out after me many times."

Sammy eventually moved to Nashville and became one of the biggest country music stars of the 90s, with hits like 'Third Rate Romance,' 'Cadillac Style' and 'She Don't Know She's Beautiful.' He is still recording and touring today.