“I’VE HAD 2 BAD ONES. THE THIRD WILL EITHER BE A CHARM OR IT’LL KILL ME.” — PATSY CLINE, ONE WEEK BEFORE SHE DIED. When Patsy was 13, rheumatic fever put her in the hospital. Her heart stopped. Doctors placed her in an oxygen tent and brought her back. When she recovered, her voice had changed — deeper, fuller. She said it came out “booming, like Kate Smith’s.” That was the first time death got close. The second was a head-on car crash in Nashville, 1961. She went through the windshield. Broken wrist, dislocated hip, a deep gash across her forehead. A month in the hospital. Six weeks later, still on crutches, she recorded “Crazy.” But what most people don’t know is what she did after that second accident. She started telling Dottie West, June Carter, and Loretta Lynn that she didn’t expect to live much longer. She wrote her will on Delta Air Lines stationery at 28. She picked the dress she wanted to be buried in. She started giving away her things and asking friends to raise her children. On March 5, 1963, her plane flew into a storm near Camden, Tennessee. Patsy Cline was 30.
Patsy Cline and the Quiet Fear Behind Her Final Words “I’ve had 2 bad ones. The third will either be…