April 14th around five o’clock was a chilly spring day. Before I left the house, Dad was stressing to me how important it is to be aware of other drives. He never usually went on these rambles, but randomly decided to that day. Also, before I drove away I was missing my license and I really felt like a needed it so I decided to run into the house to get it. I was finally on my way to Bernard to see my cousin, Madeline, and to meet her boyfriend, Cody, for the very first time. I was driving a small, red, Dodge truck that was a couple years older than me. Taylor Swift came on the radio and I was singing my heart out, even though I do not have the best voice. I was running a tiny bit late and I felt so rushed because Cody had to leave and I did not want to miss out an opportunity to meet him. I was going sixty-five mph on Highway 151 and right then and there, at that exact moment, my life had changed.

Everything turned silent. What seemed like ten seconds was really only two seconds. The world stopped and it felt like it took forever for my head to hit the steering wheel. I tried to swerve into the left lane but it was too late. Before I knew it I was screaming for help, I had never felt so alone in my entire life. All I thought about was Dad. Dad told me to be aware of other drivers and I wasn’t. I failed to follow his one request and that was all he asked of me. The man I hit came running to my truck screaming at me, “Are you okay?!” I screamed back, “No! Get me out! Just get me out!” The man kept asking me if I was okay and I just couldn’t understand why he couldn’t take me out of the vehicle. Then I looked around and saw all of the damage I had done to myself and to the car. The blood wasn’t stopping. I was bleeding from the nose, mouth, and knees. The airbag didn’t go off and because of that I had to lose my beautiful smile.

A very kind woman pulled her vehicle aside and ran towards me. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.” At that very moment, all I felt inside was guilt. I affected so many people that day and I felt so bad for it. I felt so bad for totaling my dad’s vehicle and I felt even worse about totaling the other person’s vehicle and trailer. I felt bad for holding up traffic and I felt bad because some people had to show up late to wherever they had to be that day. I felt bad for worrying my friends and family and I felt all of this guilt in a matter of seconds. Guilt was an understatement.

Another man rushed over to me while the woman was still helping me with the blood. He freaked me out even more than I already was. “Her tooth is on the dash!” My eyes bolted that direction and lit up. The tears ran down my face even harder one I saw my whole tooth, root and all, laying on the dashboard. The woman yelled at the man to leave. Then the ambulance crew showed up to the scene as well as the fire department and cops. Finally someone was there to save me. The man I hit asked me for my mom’s number so he could call her and tell her. Not even a half mile from my accident was my house. My mom showed up so fast and then so did Dan and my dad. They started putting me on the stretcher to go in the ambulance. I was just beginning to feel pain. I asked them why they couldn’t just take me home because I lived right there. My eyes didn’t stay still. I couldn’t stop moving them in every direction possible and as fast as I could. I was scared to death. Being strapped down on the stretcher, not being able to move motivated me to pray. I prayed the entire ambulance ride, and in the hospital. I was dreading the ambulance ride because I thought it would have taken thirty minutes and that was a long time for me. Right away I was at the hospital and noticed it didn’t take that long, but then I realized that I was in an ambulance that was being rushed to the hospital.

Only being able to look around with my eyes, I don’t remember the room because I had a neck brace on and wasn’t capable of looking around. The oral surgeon on call for that night was not very nice. He was not happy that I took his Saturday night away from him. It was so painful getting the other two teeth pulled and getting over fifteen stitches in my mouth. I also had to get stitches on my knee and it left a pretty good scar.

            Eventually my sisters and brother showed up with Dan. I will never forget seeing them cry and that feeling of sadness I had. I was glad they cared about me but I felt bad because I put them through it. My family was so supportive during that time and I couldn’t thank them enough. After I got home from the hospital really late that night I checked my phone and had at least a hundred texts saying get well soon and that prayers were being said for my family and me. Facebook and Twitter were crazy for a couple days. There were tweets and statuses all about me and my accident from people I had not even said more than five words to in my life. It really showed how much people cared. I also received a lot of flowers, cards, and gifts in the mail from classmates, teams, friends, and family. The accident helped me realize how blessed I am. It taught me to be thankful for everyone in my life and to not take life for granted because any second I could just vanish from the earth. Life is what we make it and I want to make mine the best it could possibly be whether I live sixteen years or one hundred years. Any day could be my last day alive and I want to be sure my last day is a good day so I like to make everyday a good day. You only live once.