>>> BAM!!!! ~~~ "Quick Call 911!!!"~~~ "Hurry up and get here!! There is so much blood!!" <<<
May 25, 2013 ~ 3:30 pm
Setting: My house in Small Town, Oklahoma
~I am packing my gear to go camping at one of my friend's pastures, when my mom asks what I am doing.~
"Hey, Honey. Where are you going?"
"The guys and I are going to go ride 4-wheelers and camp out in the pasture"
"I'd rather you not go. You know I don't like you riding 4-wheelers at night."
"Mom... I just graduated high school, I can do what I want."
"You are still under my roof, so you will listen to me."
~At this point I am in the kitchen about to walk out to my car~
"Give me a break! I'm not a little kid anymore!"
~I am walking out the back door~
"You better turn around right now, young man! You are grounded! Get back in the house now!!!"
~I turn to my mom~
"Listen here, woman! From now on, I am going to do what I want and when I want to do it!! Quit telling me what to do! I'm sick and tired off you always yapping down my throat, telling me what you think I should do, and just straight up getting on my nerves!!"
~I am fuming at this point~
"You know what, mom?! I wish I didn't have to put up with you! I wish you would just leave and get out of my life!!"
~I slam the door behind me and peel out of the drive-way in my Challenger~
>>> As soon as I leave my house, I completely forget about what I just said to my Mother and the fight we just had. All I am thinking about is the fun night that lies ahead. <<<
May 25, 2013 ~ 11:15 pm
Setting: Middle of Nowhere, OK. On a starlit/moonlit, clear-sky night
~My friends and I have just finished up a pickup game of basketball at an old abandoned basketball court in a town that has a population of 35. We are riding our 4-wheelers back to our campsite, when I scream over the roar of the engine to my friends riding the other 4-wheeler~
"How much further do we have until we get back?! I'm hungry!!"
"Not too much farther! We are about 3 miles away!"
~I turn my head to the my friends riding the 4-wheeler with me and start to chat with them~
"Do we have any jerky left back at the camp?"
"No! Lane ate all of the jerky again!!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
~We are about 2 miles from the campsite. We are so close I decide to push the 4-wheeler to its limits. The speedometer reads 55mph~
"There is plenty of Gatorade, right?"
"Yeah! Carter brought an extra pack!"
"OHHH NOOOOO!!!! WATCH OUT!!!!!!"
~By the time my friend riding the 4-wheeler with me said those words, it was too late... It was so dark outside that we could hardly see. You see, my friend was telling me watch out four the DEER that was about to cross the path of our 4-wheeler~
>>> BAM!!! Going 55mph and not wearing helmets, our 4-wheeler collided head with the DEER. My friends land in the ditch, but are okay–except for the road rash. However, I went over the front of the handle bars and landed directly on the asphalt pavement–head first <<<
"RENO!! JONATHON!! Are you okay??"
~Harrison and Carter (my two other friends on the other 4-wheeler) check to see if Reno and Jonathon (my two friends riding the 4-wheeler with me) are okay~
"OOOUCHH!! Yeah... we are okay... Just a lot of road rash!!"
~At this point, Jonathon has found my STIFF, motionless body lying in the middle of the road. He drops to his knees as he approaches me. He looks down and sees the entire left side of my face is busted open and blood is pouring out... His best friend isn't moving... His best friend..... isn't breathing.... ~
"Reno... Carter... Harrison..."
" ............... "
"Guys... I think Brandon is DEAD....."
>>> My friends scramble to call 911. Since we are in the middle of nowhere, it takes the ambulance 45 minutes to locate where we are. By the time the ambulance gets there, I have already come to. I am completely knocked unconscious, but at least I am breathing <<<
May 26, 2013 ~ 2:00 am
Setting: My house in Small Town, Oklahoma
~The ring of the telephone echoes through my house as my mom is awakened from a deep sleep~
"Who on earth could be calling this late?"
~She picks up the phone~
"Hello? Who is this?"
"Aliene are you awake? It Allison."
"I am now. What can I help you with?"
"Are you sitting down? If not, I need you to."
"I WAS lying down, but yeah. I am sitting. What is going on?
~My mom realizes that this is our neighbor down the street. (Her son is Jonathon, one of my friends that was riding the 4-wheeler with me) My mom is a little confused because Allison is crying.~
"It's our boys. They have been in a 4-wheeler accident... They were rushed to the hospital. Reno was on the 4-wheeler with them, but Reno and Jonathon are fine for the most part..."
"Allison, you're not making any sense! What about Brandon?? Where is my baby boy???"
"He got the worst of it... He is completely unconscious... The left side of his face was busted up in this accident and they think he may lose his left eye.... They are mediflighting him to a larger hospital now. PLEASE HURRY!!!"
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The last words I said to my Mother were words of hate and anger. When I left the house that night, I didn't want my Mother to be a part of my life anymore...
I came to find out that my Mother had cried herself to sleep that night. She was thinking of how SHE was sorry for the fight we had. How SHE should have handled the situation differently. Not once did she think of blaming ME for acting up. Not once did she have thoughts of hate or anger because of the disrespect I showed her.
"The Love of a Mother" is a love that only mothers show best. Even though my Mother had every right to blame ME for acting the way I did-- every right to think thoughts of anger and hate about ME because of my action-- she chose not to do any of that. My mother, like all mothers, isn't a normal human being. In fact, she is superhuman! She is a mother.
I shared this story because my mother showed me a lesson in love. My mother showed me The Love of Acquittal. I was wrong in every aspect. I was wrong for raising my voice with my mother, saying rude comments, slamming doors, storming off, and overall disrespecting her. She had every right to have negative feelings towards me.
But she is a mother. I was in the wrong; I was guilty. She decided to give me a certificate of innocence. You see, mothers don't ponder and pout all the time about what their child said or how their children treated them. Instead, mothers see how they can improve on being a mother. They guide their children to proper behaviors. Impress on the good manners and politeness. When a mother reprimands her children, she does it out of LOVE and NOT out of hate or anger.
My mother showed me that even though my friends and family may treat me wrong. Friends and family may say mean things or do wrong things to me; I must practice the Love of Acquittal. To not be mad at them for the way they are acting, but first to change my actions and what I did that may have caused them to act that way. My mother showed me to grant innocence instead of punishment. To choose to forgive instead of to hate.
Love of Acquittal. Learn from it. Practice it. Use it. Live it.
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Mothers are one of the biggest heroes you will ever have in your life. Like all heroes there is something to be learned. Stay tuned to find out how this story ends! Will I be in a coma for a year? Am I still in a coma (lol)? Will I lose my left eye? Does my mom ever want to see me again? Will she ever forgive me? Come back next week to find out! I will be sharing the next lesson in love that I learned from my Mother.
Just starting out as a writer with Odyssey and Mother's Day already passing, I am going to be writing about "The Love of a Mother." I will be dedicating the entire month of May to sharing personal stories of times my Mother has shown me love and the lesson I learned.
Until next time, tell your mom you love her! Give her a hug! Give her a kiss! Buy her flowers! We both know she loves chocolates. But most importantly, tell your mom you are thankful for her and that you love her!! <3
Brandon Gosselin
Never Give Up, Never Quit Trying
