I lost a friend, you don’t have too.

I lost a friend, you don’t have to

My friends loved to drive,

And driving loved him,

When words got to heavy,

And life held a dagger to his heart,

The road was their main confidant,

The roles were reversed,

Power was in their hands,

In the wheel,

Everything was simple,

Driving was simple,

You turn left,

You go left,

You turn right,

You go right,

Everything in accordance,

No traps,

No unintended consequences,

Just keep your mind on the road,

And your mind away from the thoughts that drag you down,

That holds you back,

That hurt…

Press on the accelerator

Roll down the windows,

Increase the volume,

Let the velocity of the wind glide on your open palms,

Let your tears streak your face like raindrowps on a windowshield.

A mind is a greatly heavy thing to bear,

It fits better in a four-wheeler,

Solitude is a lonely traveler and a worse companion,

My friend knew the solution,

Fill the car with the laughter of familiar faces.

At every event, gathering, and party he drove us fro and back,

Always making sure our seatbelts were fastened,

Always making sure we werent too cold or too hot,

Always making sure jokes flew by quicker than gas in the motor pipes,

We didn’t know that the only thing my friend loved more than the road was to drink,

Like Cola and mentos,

A mixture akin to Citrus and milk,

A love as retched as that of asthma and pollution,

No matter the strength of the grip on the steering wheel,

Alcohol will make it slip.

Will coaxe you into a ditch,

And make of your loved sky-blue Kia a cadaver of oil and spare parts.

When I learned what happened to him there were no airbags to break my fall,

I felt as if my life drifted and I lost control,

That moment before the impact when all you can do is grit your teeth,

No time to think,

No time to scream,

The silence that accompanies the steps of the inevitable,

But it didn’t have to be that way,

I often think of him,

I remember his wispy light brown hair,

The swollen eyes with which his little sister greeted me at the funeral,

She didn’t like to wear all-black,

She preferred sky-blue and her older brother by her side.

I never drove the same after it,

We called it ‘’it’’

Instead of saying he died at the wheel.

Our friend became a statistic,

I learned after ‘’it’’ that men are twice as likely of crash death then women

And teens are almost three times as likely to die while driving than people over twenty.

Unlucky odds for a lucky guy with a lucky keychain, lucky whistle, good luck charm, and steady faith.

Don’t drink and drive

That is a message I hold in the pit of my stomach and wish I could scream at the top of my lungs.

The essence is keeping your focus on the road and other people with you,

Don’t text and drive,

Eating and driving is one of the top five accident causes in young drivers.

But also,

Let’s make mental health support to our drivers,

Many people use driving as a coping mechanism, but it has many risks

Driving when living through intense emotion can hinder critical thinking and increase reaction time

A second too long can be your last,

Properly accompanying our young drivers,

And teaching them transferable social and life skills such as being able to resist peer pressure,

Listening to their bodies and recognizing their limits,

Have a proper sleeping schedule (awareness, concentration).

With all this newfound knowledge that I apply in my personal life and try to teach my friends I’ve come to one main principle:

The caring driver,

When you remember that driving is a privilege and a responsibility,

Driving safely comes more easily,

As A driving caring for the many people with which you share the road avoids road rage,

Not respecting priority,

And overall dissatisfaction,

I am responsible of the biker,

The walker,

The young father and his stroller,

The child learning how to roller blade,

The dog and his owner,

The official late for his 9am meeting in the bus,

My fellow car drivers in a rush,

The bearded gentlemen in the yellow taxi

Gleaming with a special type of happy,

The tattooed women littering the street with embers and smoke,

Being a caring driver to me means always indicating your intention with a car turn signal,

Leaving earlier to not be rushed on the road

Sharing that knowledge with my little brothers and members of my community,

When I’m in a friend’s cars and I don’t see them acting accordingly,

Warning them of the risks nicely,

It means reading every year my drivers manual,

It means moving out of the street when an emergency vehicle tries to pass,

Educating our drivers means making sure everyone on the orad speaks the same language

And when it’s a matter of life and death,

Making sure we understand each other is capital.

As I finish this heart-to-heart,

I think of my friend,

And his family,

I think of all the memories,

That never got to be,

I hope you are free,

Driving to somewhere better.

We think of you fondly…