Dear Driver,
I don’t know what was going through your mind or why you decided to get behind the wheel that night, but let me explain something to you. By that one thoughtless act, you shook a whole town. When you hit her car, time stopped and the stars shone just a little less brightly. The sun didn’t shine and the wind didn’t blow that day as news spread that she was gone.
Did you know she was beautiful? She was a light in the sky that shined just a little brighter than the rest. The Moon’s loveliness competed with her beauty, always leaving a wonder in the sky. Her smile was breathtaking and her personality blinding. There was no other star in the sky or fire burning on earth that outshined her. She brightened the lives of everyone around her with just a simple smile and a laugh. Her light was contagious and a most exquisite thing.
Did you know she was a dancer? One of the most beautiful dancers I had ever seen. Her eyes would shine with fire and her movements would radiate when she performed on stage. Lightening flowed through her muscles as she executed the steps, every movement with grace, every leap with elegance and every spin with delicacy. Her extraordinary heart shone with love and passion as she turned and leaped into the air with flair, dropping from the sky as lively as a raindrop. She was not just a dancer, but a performer. She was a thief of attention, everyone’s eyes glued to her as she stole the show and your heart.
Did you know she was adventurous? She was free and goofy and full of life as she explored new horizons and breathtaking scenes. Daring just enough, she walked through history, stepping on the royal path of the Maya ruins. With wind through her hair, she went bobsledding through the lush forest of Jamaica. She pet sea turtles and kissed a stingray in Grand Cayman. That kiss was supposed to provide 7 years of good luck; she left with 5 years unclaimed.
Did you know she was a wanderer? She’d wander here and there, following things that were pretty, shiny and new. There was no clique that could contain her light for their own. Everyone she made smile was her friend and everyone who didn't was her challenge. Laughter was her fuel and frowns were her kryptonite. She was always smiling and persuading the people around her to do the same. Even if they had nothing else to smile about they always smiled because of her.
Did you know she was 18? She had her whole life ahead of her. In the next few days, she was supposed to start college and study forensic science. She was so smart and excited to learn more. Her flame was going to grow and brighten every life she stepped in. Her future was worth something and everyone looked forward to seeing how far she would go.
But that night…
Did you know that she was heading home from a concert at a local venue that night? She had just had a wonderful time with her best friend when you hit her car. She was only 30 minutes away from home. You hit six cars that night, but hers was the one.
Did you know she was beautiful?
Did you know beautiful is an understatement? She was gorgeous. Her smile was sunshine beaming through a grey sky. Her laugh was free and changing like the wind. Her hair was black as the night sky and her eyes were brown that glistened in the sunlight. Her skin was dark and beautiful with every dimple perfectly placed. She was smart, daring, a drama queen and a rose in a field of daisies. She was full of life.
You stopped time with one thoughtless act. You deprived so many people of her smile and her laugh. You stole a daughter from a mother, a best friend who has no one to tell her secrets to and a whole town will remember the day we were forced to say goodbye.
So I hope you feel the weight of your actions and know how precious the treasure was that you stole from us. She is not forgotten and watches over us and loves us from a place we can only dream of.
She was sunshine.
Every breeze that moves the flowers is her laugh. Every butterfly that dances in the sky is her heart. Every sunray that beams from the horizon is her smile.
To you, she was just another girl, but to so many, she was their world.
