What Tomorrow Holds

  by Nicolette Nelson

It was about 9:00 p.m., and I had just gotten off work. My friend and I just picked up my boyfriend.  We were heading off to meet our friend’s at the campground for an exciting night of camping, until we encountered a slight unexpected change in plans.  What I saw that night I would never forget. 

                It was about a 15-minute drive to the campsite and we had to be there by ten otherwise the gate closes.  It was just like any other boring night in Rochester, MN, where nothing out of the ordinary happens.  I was driving my car on a four-lane road going eastbound. As I was driving I took note of a car behind me and the three cars coming at me in the opposite lane going westbound.  As the cars in the on-coming lane going westbound passed me, I looked up into my rear view mirror as a natural reaction.  I saw one of the cars rear-end the other, which pushed the third one into a head on collision with the car behind me.  I saw sparks and heard tires squealing. I was the only one in the car who saw it, and nobody else heard it because the music was on so loud.  I reached for my cell phone and threw it at my friend riding shot-gun and said, “ Call 9-1-1!”  By the time I had turned my car around to go check out the scene a cop car was already there.  There were many thoughts running through my head at that time.  Did I know any of those people? Is everyone okay?

            As we pulled to the scene the first thing that I saw was my friend, Colin’s, truck.  The front of the truck was smashed and the whole left side was missing.  My heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.  I’ve known Colin since elementary school; he was one of my best friends.  I ran up to his truck and screamed his name, but he was nowhere to be found.  All of a sudden he came walking out of a corn field on the side of the road with his legs covered in blood, and cuts and scrapes all over his face and body.  I approached him and asked him if he was okay.  He was in such shock he had no idea what his name was, was happened, or who I was.  I called his mom and told her what happened.  He was lucky to be alive.  His truck was hit head on and he was thrown out of the truck through the passenger side window into a corn field, if he had been wearing his seat belt (which he wasn’t) he would have been crushed to death.

            After we got Colin medical attention I took a look around me.  Out of the darkness came a bunch of kids from my school that I new.  I didn’t understand what they were doing, and where they came from.  After I talked to them I figured out that they were in the two cars going westbound comming toward me.  They told me that they were joking around and were trying to race one another.  One car of kids tried to pass the other car of kids, but ended up rear ending them, which in turn hit the car if front of him, which hit Colin’s truck in the opposite lane head on.

  After the ambulance arrived I was sitting on the curb with my boyfriend and looked at the other car that collided with Colin’s truck.  It was completely totaled.  I realized that nobody got out of that car so I went up closer to see if they already got out or needed help.  Once I got closer I noticed that there were two bodies still inside the car that the police were looking at.  It turned out that there were two ladies in the car who were killed by the impact of the collision.

  Once I heard that, that is when if actually hit me.  Two ladies lost their lives because of reckless driving.  The two carloads of sophomores killed two innocent people.  If they weren’t driving so carelessly they wouldn’t have caused these two people their lives.  Then a bunch of “what if” questions ran through my mind.  What if I was ten seconds later picking up boyfriend and my car was the one that was hit?  That means that everyone in my car, one of my best friends and my boyfriend, would have possibly died.  I would have died for sure because I had my seat belt on and would have been trapped in the car.  What if Colin would have died?  What if that was my mom, grandmother, sister, etc. in the car that died?  

At that moment my mom called my cell phone and that is when I lost it.  I was hysterical.  I didn’t know why at the time, I guess I was just in shock, but I was a mess (and so was my mom).  Now I know why I was so shaken up. It was because I just realized how serious the accident really was, two people lost their lives and one of my good friends could have died.  I think my mom was so hysterical because that was the most dangerous incident that I had ever been “involved in” and she could have lost me.  We were both a little emotional.

After we had driven downtown and given our statements to the police, I had to drop everyone off at home.  I dropped my boyfriend off last and I realized how glad I was that I didn’t have to go through this traumatic experience on my own.  I had to drive by the scene of the accident because it was on my way home.  By that time it was at least 1:30 in the morning.  The “jaws of life” were at the scene still working on getting the two bodies out of the car.  I got home that night and I could not sleep.  All I could think about was the two women that died.  They were probably someone’s mom, daughter, or grandma.  What if I would have lost a family member like that?

I know this incident sounds like it isn’t a big deal, but it has had a lasting impact on how I see and understand the world around me.  Seeing the accident made me think about many different things, and look at things in a completely different light.  It taught me two very important lessons about life.  The first lesson it taught me was to live your life to the fullest.  Get up everyday and live it like it’s your last day to live.  If you live your life like that you will appreciate things at a higher level, and you will not take so much for granted.  The second thing it taught me was to tell people how you feel about them.  You never know when they, or you, will be gone.  If you love someone, tell him or her so they know how you feel not matter what.  I know it can be embarrassing and corny, but you never know what life has in store for you.  Live everything up to it’s potential, for nobody knows what tomorrow holds

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