The Last Day

The
day every kid looks forward to the most; the last day of school. It
was a beautiful June afternoon, one might even say the perfect last
day of kindergarten. I picked out a unicorn paint-by-number from my
teacher’s “gift store”, and burst through the door with the
others as I heard the bell ring one last time before heading off to
first grade. I searched the crowd for my brother, and we found my mom
together. “Happy Summer guys! Let’s go out for ice cream to
celebrate!” Oh my gosh. Could this day get any better?

We
raced to Minnie The Minivan, and talked about our favorite parts from
the school year on the ride to the ice cream shoppe. Waiting for my
mom to make the final left turn into the parking lot, I nearly fell
out of my seat in excitement. BANG! I looked to my left to see the
ice cream cone statue we definitely shouldn’t be parked next to. To
the right, a family sitting on the bench in the grass staring at us
in shock. Needless to say, I was quite confused. At that point, I
figured I wasn’t getting my ice cream.

After
what felt like 30 seconds, sirens echoed around us from all
directions and before I knew it, I was talking to a police officer
about my unicorn paint-by-number and my favorite ice cream flavor.
“Where is my mom?” I ask him, looking around to see if I can spot
her. I guess he was trying to focus my attention in his direction,
because when I turned around, I was met with the sight of my poor
momma on a stretcher with what I thought was stale, white cotton
candy wrapped around her neck. Although I was jealous of the weird
cotton candy, I was terrified. I still didn’t really understand
what happened, until I saw Minnie with the trunk almost halfway
through the van. Behind it, a young girl in another destroyed car
with a cellphone in her hand.

Thirteen
years later, the image of my mom being taken away in an ambulance is
burned into my mind, all because one girl made a poor choice. Safety
when driving is so incredibly important, but for some reason it isn’t
taken seriously. A car is a machine that has the power to hurt so
many people if not used carefully. If there hadn’t been a row of
seats behind us, my brother and I might not be here today. You don’t
have to respond to that text right away. You don’t have to go 20
miles over the speed limit. Your favorite song doesn’t have to be
playing as loud as your radio can go. You do have to wear your
seatbelt. Keep your eyes and your attention on the road, and remember
that driving is a privilege, not a right.