Nicole

The Accident: A Personal Narrative
We made it. We were no longer the underclassmen or the bottom-of-the-foodchain freshmen;;
we have evolved over the past three years. Finally, the Class of 2014 would be the seniors of Etiwanda High School. The summer before the beginning of your final year of childhood, is supposed to be the most imaginative and life-embracing out of all the summer experiences prior. My closest friends and I had beach trips planned and a list of amusement parks and small adventure-like schemes we wanted to partake on. As the heat of summer was setting in, our plans finally took off and this past summer was everything we had imagined it would be. In a perfect world, that is how the story would go;; and unfortunately this world is far from perfect.
Before our first adventure in mid-June, I received a phone call I wish I never had to have. On that sunny Tuesday in June, I found out my best friend was in a car accident. I had never felt so much pain in a matter of seconds that made it feel as if the ground was crumbling into smaller pieces with every step I took. Instead of having roasting marshmallows while sitting in the cold beach sand, taking pictures, and creating everlasting memories, my closest friends and I spent our summer driving back and forth to different hospitals hoping that the situation at hand would get better. Every day that passed and our peers were having amazing pre-Senior year endeavors, we were hanging onto the smallest bits of good news and felt ten times more joy by it than our classmates having a good time at the beach and Six Flags.
It is nearly impossible to understand the value of life and its precious amenities, until everything begins to fall apart. Visiting a hospital for two months was not part of my summer plans, but it was. After coming home from the hospital on the days that I went, I realized that I am lucky to be healthy, alive, and loved. Although, I felt selfish and undeserving of these treasures. Reflecting on the frivolous manner that I was living, I believed that circumstances should have been different and that I should have been the one hospitalized for two months. No one should wish for these events to happen to them. I could not stop these thoughts that were flooding through my head. I could not help but have those thoughts running through my mind every day that I walked through the cold hospital doors. Being in the face of disaster and death- nearly losing someone- makes the most miniscule objects in your life feel luxurious.
Today, on September 20, 2013, I felt blessed. The missing and broken puzzle pieces were all put together, although they were once scratched and tarnished. Lying down in the grass, listening to music, and releasing balloons into the sky with the rest of the Class of 2014 with my closests friends, everyone back and healthy, was the “perfect” venture my summer never had;; however, it was well worth the wait.