One accident and a whole community of grieving people. One person, one little mistake on the road led to so much heartbreak. June 25th, my classmate and friend Elijah passed away from a severe car accident. Although no one really knows why he swerved into the other lane or what truly happened, everyone who hurts through this tragedy knows how important it is to drive safely.
At the age of six my dad slightly tapped the car in front of him leaving a little bit of damage, but nothing that I thought to be too serious. I always knew cars were dangerous and that accidents happen all the time, but I never really understood why safe driving was so important until Elijah passed. Elijah was never a close friend of mine, but I was always acquainted with him. Since I was in elementary school he was always one of the cool kids who was a grade older and my neighbor never stopped talking about him. He had the most infectious smile, the best personality, and the most beautiful heart of anyone I had ever met. He never failed to make me smile even when I just walked past him in the hall.
Elijah was the type of person everyone needed in their life, he was a huge advocate for what was right. He had it all: the personality, the looks, and he was a star athlete by just his sophomore year of high school. That year was the year I finally got to know him past the surface of just what I heard and saw from the outside. Elijah’s best friend and I started to talk and hang out and he was always all over that. He even got my number and called me once to ask if I liked him because he thought his friend liked me too. As soon as I was in his friend's life I was in his too. He never failed to say hi to me or make me feel included in anything we did. Well things between his friend and I had some ups and downs and during those downs he would make sure that I was okay and that he was treating me right even though that was his best friend and I was not.
As I just am starting to truly see the impact Elijah made on my life as well as how influential he was to everyone else, everything changed. On the 23rd I believe they had a football scrimmage at a neighboring high school and I went to watch his friend play even though I was told I was not wanted there by his friend. Of course I just wanted to support him because we were friends and maybe more than that, but I was unwanted and he made that clear after trying to ignore me and walk past me like I did not exist. Elijah being the person he was, hugged me, told me he was glad I was there, and told his friend how he was in the wrong for not letting me support him and for treating me how he did when I did support him. I will never forget this moment because no one had ever stuck up for me in the way he did that day.
That was the last time I saw Elijah before his accident. Never did I think that would be how things ended with the friendship we were building. That was the first time I ever saw a community hurt the way the community did. The night of his death the whole community got together for a vigil on the football field. People not just from our community, but people all over. Elijah impacted people from all over the state that drove to show the support and love that he embodied. Seeing the whole community come together to support his family and friends was such an empowering moment, but the pain is something that will never go away.
To this day I still meet new people that Elijah impacted. On my highschool cheer team the next year, someone who was like a little sister to him joined my team, someone I didn't even know was in his life, but someone who was truly impacted by his love. To see so many hurt and still meeting so many that struggle each day with him gone shows how important staying safe on the road is. Although I was not close to Elijah in the way I wish I got to be, everyday I get to see the light of him through everyone that he did impact and the thought of losing more people to irresponsible or unsafe driving hurts just to think about.
Not only have I watched the community struggle through this, but I have watched one of my closest friends struggle through her dad passing from an accident and experiencing that grief of losing someone all over again with her. I know anyone would like to go back and change the things to stop accidents from happening, but through losing my friend, and watching my friends struggle from the loss I have come to realize how utterly important it is to be responsible on the road and so has an entire community of people who will never move past the amazing soul they lost the day of Elijah's accident. So next time you get in a slight fender bender or decide to get on your phone while driving, think about the people who you could be endangering and how serious it is for you, your loved ones, and all the other people in the other cars.