“Mom, Julia will not stop calling me this is getting obnoxious”
“Emma, answer the phone, it could be important”
“Fine”.
My phone slides out of my hand as I begin to lose the ability to grip it. Tears start to stream down my face, as a puddle collects at the crease between my jean shorts. I crumble into the passenger seat of my mom’s black Nissan Pathfinder. A mother should never have to hear the kind of horrible shrieks that began to leave my mouth. The real issue is a mother should never have to outlive her own child. But that is what happened to my sorority sister’s mom on .

I remember these details like it was yesterday, a random day, a random post-holiday day. My roommate called me after I was leaving lunch and she told me that one of my sorority sisters, Abigail Cox had passed away in a car crash earlier that morning. Car crashes are a weird thing, we are taught at the ripe age of sixteen that our lives revolve around the ability to get around and gain our independence. I remember being so excited to no longer have to ask my mom to take me to my friend’s house or to have my dad drop me off on my first date. But yet this exciting phase of life has the ability to do so much damage. When I think back to being sixteen I know that the worry of a friend’s life being taken did not cross my mind once. However, now the thought of a car taking someone’s life passes my mind at least twice a day.
Abigail was a mentor for me. I looked up to her in my sorority and she was one of the only older girls I trusted. I used to ask her to meet up with me and I would ask her dozens and dozens of questions. I was so excited to live in the house with her as a sophomore. She asked me for the last two weeks of school to join her this summer at Camp Ozark. She told me I would be a great fit and she knew I could shine God’s light on so many students. I was so excited to embark on this journey with her and I texted her connections for an interview.
I still do not know to this day how my life would be if these next events went differently, but hey, everything happens for a reason right? I signed up for the last interview slot (this was all a last-minute decision), and I picked 2 PM on the day I was moving out. I knew it would be a lot to juggle on the same day as moving out, but I thought it would be worth it.
The day of the interview comes and I sit patiently waiting for 2 PM. 2:10…2:15…..2:30… I text my interviewer, “Hey, I think you missed our time”. At this point, I was annoyed and felt like they did not care so I turned off my phone and got carried away packing in the car. My mom showed up in a large Ram pickup truck and was shoving things in the back, scrambling to get done before my move-out slot it over.
4:00 PM I look back at my phone, **2 missed calls**, I read a text, “Hey, I think you missed our interview time 2 PM Central Time”, I giggle at myself realizing I live in Eastern time and this camp is based out of Missouri. I texted asking if they were free to call again the next day before I flew out for vacation, but nothing worked. They ended up telling me that this would not work out this summer. I texted Abigail that I was not going to be able to do it and I said I wish her the best.

I never thought that three months later she would be working at that camp, driving into town when her life was taken away by a careless driver. Sometimes I think I should have tried harder to work at the camp with her, othertime I think thank goodness I did not work that camp or that would have been me with her. I will never know what could or could not have happened. What I do know is driving can be such an exciting freedom to gain, but driving is also a huge responsibility that needs to be taken seriously. I hope that driving safety is a focus for every sixteen-year-old learning how to drive and that every driving school takes the responsibility of other’s lives seriously.


"Mom, Julia will not stop calling me; this is getting obnoxious.”
“Emma, answer the phone; it could be important.”