It was late morning on August 30, 2014 and my parents and I were in my kitchen. I had just had breakfast and was still sitting at the island counter where I usually sit; Mom and Dad sat at the kitchen table, Dad with the paper. It was the day of the senior scavenger hunt; a day the incoming senior girls dressed up in bright colored teams and performed ridiculous tasks. I was so excited for all of the fun to come later on that day. It is for all fun and games before the start of our last year of high school.

Suddenly Mom’s phone rang. In that instant, the room seemed to freeze and all that was happening was the phone call. From the second she answered the phone it was as if we knew something was wrong. Without anything being said on the phone, we knew. Dad began to panic; I could feel all of the possibilities running through his head. “Who is it?” We kept asking. Mom had her hand over her mouth, “It’s Aisling.” She said it with the least emotion I had ever heard come from her. My Dad immediately became a wreck, he paced the room, not knowing what to do or say. My entire world began to spin and I had no idea what had happened. I did not know what to do. She hung up the phone and explained what she knew. Aisling was in a car accident on her way to a soccer tournament done to support cancer patients.

My first worry was that something happened to her legs. I worried my cousin, whose life revolved around her incredible ability to play sports, could lose the ability to play. It wasn’t that easy. It was brain damage. Throughout the day I slowly learned more and more as we heard from different relatives. My brother was out in Montauk for Labor Day with friends so it took longer for her to find out and come home. I couldn’t stand the thought of sitting around all day and waiting, so I went to the scavenger hunt. When my group met with the rest of the girls I got a call from my mom. We were leaving for New Jersey within the hour. At this point almost everyone there knew what was going on. As the tears streamed down my face in front of half of my high school class, I didn’t care. I had a red mask so I threw it on over my tear-stained face and tried to make the most of the day that I knew would become the worst day of my life.