A Message From the (Almost) Grave

I shouldn’t be alive. I shouldn’t even be able to tell you this story but I can. I almost did not exist and that was due to the careless choices of others. My mom shouldn’t be alive either. After all, her life and my own hinged on the fateful decision she made that New Years’ Eve night in 1999. 

If you had a feeling of foreboding, a gut intuition that something would go wrong would you ignore it? That is what my mother did and felt that New Year’s Eve day. Talk about a killjoy, it was the last New Year’s Eve of the 20th century! The plan was to go to a party in Montgomery with my aunt and her boyfriend. My grandma, wise as she is, cautioned them about going out because of drunk drivers. While getting ready, my aunt was giving her boyfriend drinks. Unlike my aunt’s boyfriend, the designated driver, both young girls knew that Montgomery roads were winding disasters. Despite the warning signs, mom stepped into the back seat of the car. 

They made it to the party but my mom was still uneasy. Imagine, being at the century end rager feeling like the world was going to end. My mom did the only thing she knew and prayed that my uncle would walk through the door and that she would leave with him. After the amen left her lips, in walked my uncle. He agreed to take her back while my aunt rode with her boyfriend. Once again my mom was in the back seat when she heard my uncle shouting that someone had an accident. She couldn’t even lift her head for she already knew who it was. The car had flipped several times and it was upside down. Stepping out of the car, my mom came face to face with a possible reality that could have been her. The back of the car where she was sitting earlier that day, was gone and the window was blown out. Weeks later, my mom found out that she was pregnant with me.

This story shows the consequences of reckless driving and poor decisions. Rasanksky Lawfirm says, “According to the National Safety Council (NSC), 42 percent of the deaths that occur around New Year’s Eve in traffic accidents are caused due to drunk driving.” No one wants to become a statistic. This is why driving education classes should teach startling facts such as this. No drink is worth the loss of life, no matter whose it is. The first step to reducing driving deaths is education, the second step is recognizing personal responsibility and deciding what one can live with and what one can’t. Nowadays, texting and driving is a big danger. Personally, I like music and I admit that I scroll to find songs. Seeing the danger, I have taken the step of selecting songs beforehand. It’s the small decisions, awareness, and a willingness to change that can make a longlasting impact.

https://www.jrlawfirm.com/news/new-year-eve-car-accident-statistics/#:~:text=Car%20accident%20statistics%20around%20New,caused%20due%20to%20drunk%20driving.