I’ve never told anyone this story. I haven’t tried to keep it a secret. I just simply haven’t told it. So bear with me if you’re reading this because I’m telling it for the first time. It’s a lesson people don’t learn soon enough.
When I got to the 4th grade I was put in a class that was separated from the rest of my friends that I made throughout elementary school. Sure, I knew most of the students, but none of my close friends were in my class. It was time to make some more. So during one of the first days of school, our teacher assigned us seats in desk groups of four. The girl that was placed right next to me was named Hannah. I had seen her around school before, but never had talked to her until she was placed in my class. We really hit it off right away. We would sit next to each other when we had to go meet on the carpet and play four-square and hopscotch at recess and help each other with math problems. You know, the usual things that elementary school buddies do. I’ll spoil the ending a bit by saying Hannah wasn’t in my class for very long.
Hannah was a lot like me and maybe that’s why we got along so well. We liked to be active and go outside. We had the same interests in sports and such. We both thought the same boys were cute even if they did have cooties at the time. I’m not going to say we were inseparable best friends, but no doubt we were buddies. That friendship didn’t last long. Her desk was all cleaned out and empty by about the 5th week of school. A couple of days after her desk was cleaned out I found out why.
In one of the first weekends of October, her older sister had a soccer tournament in Iowa. I remember because she was telling me how upset she was that she couldn’t go because she had her own soccer game in town on that Saturday. Both of her parents decided to go to her sister’s soccer tournament and Hannah was going to stay at a teammate’s house for her own game that weekend. This is where the story loses detail because I’m not sure exactly when or where the following events happened, but I don’t think they are necessary for you to understand the rest.
On one of the nights during her sisters’ soccer tournament, the team went out to dinner. On the way back to the hotel from the restaurant, an SUV swerved over the centerline on a two-way road and hit them dead on. Hannah’s Dad was pronounced dead at the scene from serious and fatal head trauma. Hannah’s Mom was pinned from the front of the car, being smashed in by the oncoming vehicle. She died of internal bleeding at the hospital. Hannah’s sister suffered minor injuries and wasn’t harmed, so they say. If you’re wondering about the car that hit them, the man in the suburban suffered a head injury that wasn’t long lasting and was handed a DUI and manslaughter charge. The man in the suburban was a local teacher in that Iowa town and a well-respected family man with children of his own I later found out.
You probably pieced together already that Hannah was taken out of my class because her parents were gone. You are right. She didn’t have family in the area so she had to move out of state to be with them. I’m not sure if she moved to Minnesota or Michigan, I can’t remember. I do remember how it made me feel hearing about it at school. I thought to myself, "What an idiot. What a stupid move for that man to be driving in a state like that. How selfish can you be. My friend doesn’t have a dad anymore. She doesn’t have a mom anymore. She can’t get them back. That’s it."
Years passed, obviously, and now that I’m 21 I will say I’m not afraid to take advantage of it. I’ll admit that I’ve definitely had too many before. I’ve witnessed the struggle of people deciding if they are alright to drive home. Let me tell you that if you even have to question your ability to drive for a second, you better not put that key in the ignition. In an instant life can change and by that I mean in an instant life can be taken away. People we love are too precious to lose and I’ll be damned if you can come up with one thing that is worth getting a DUI or taking someone’s life away for. All it takes is once. It takes one time of screwing around. One irresponsible thought of “I’ll be fine”. Just one time to lose a license, a parent, a friend, or a loved one. So go out, have fun, make memories, but please don’t let that one time get the best of you. Losing a friend, a dad, a mom, a sister, a brother, or a loved one is simply not worth it.
Wishing Hannah the best wherever she is.
