Memory of a close call

I flew down to Roseburg yesterday to pick up a wrongful death case. When I approached Roseburg 10 miles north at around 4500 feet I heard over the radio another plane taking off coming my direction. Sure enough I saw him early and he was heading directly for me perhaps 2 miles away. I turned to my right. Seattle center called him and warned him about me but I had already set off to the right. Years ago out of Roseburg I heard another plane talking to Seattle Center. I knew a plane was in my vicinity. I carefully scanned the sky and saw a Mooney descending. My first thought was that we were lined up directly to collide. My second thought was that if I did not turn that instant I would be dead in about 3-5 seconds. I immediately banked hard to the right and my heart began pumping like mad. I called on the local frequency and asked if the plane coming into Roseburg had seen me. He called back and said he had looked up out of his window and saw the belly of my plane in his left window. He was breathing hard. He said he was putting his lunch away. He thanked me for saving his life. The next Monday we had a huge bouquet of flowers delivered to the office. There was a note from this pilot. It simply said "nice bank Eric- thanks again" After that I invested $5000 in a little instrument called a TCAD or traffic collision avoidance device. It gives a signal and alarm when a plane is three miles away or 2000 feet above or below me. It is not 100% but it does go off on occasion. Most of the time I won't even see the plane that sets off the alarm. The skys in Oregon are generally a lonely place. Lots of room with no company around. A collision in the air is about as bad a thing that could happen. There is no room for error. There are no fender benders in the air