I wonder if you took driver's ed and watched the same videos as I did? Did you watch the first-hand accounts of what it's like to survive a nasty collision? I hope you saw these videos and swore to your parents you'd never text or drive under the influence. I hope you were taught to call someone to take you home after you've had one too many. But- I guess ignorance really is bliss, huh?

Well, that night taught me something drivers-ed never could: that no matter what I do, anything can happen. I was sixteen years old and having a driver's license was the center of my world. Until, February 9th, when it almost cost me my life. I was driving to Sheetz and you were driving on the wrong side of the road. You were speeding and couldn't drive in a straight line, it was like every video I watched in driver's-ed class. But now, I was living it and I tried to remember what Mr. G had taught us to do in this situation. So, I tried to pull off the road, out of the way, and into the grass.

Before I knew it, I was operating on autopilot, swerving to the right to avoid a head-on collision. Instead, your car hit me on the driver's side door exactly where I was sitting.

That is the last memory I have before being pulled out of my car by first-responders. I didn't know what had just happened to me, where I was, or even my name. As for you - witnesses watched you exit your car and run away from the scene. You left behind two passengers, and one wasn't wearing a seatbelt. I never found out your name or their names, but I never forgot you.

The accident itself felt easier to cope with than living life after it was over. I was in the hospital for a while and I missed the rest of my junior year of high school. However, I got to go to prom and who would have thought then that it'd be my only prom too. It was rough and I blamed you for it even though I never knew your name. But, I am not angry anymore and I want to say thank you.

I became a statistic but I survived. It's now two years later and I can't believe how far I've come. I say thank you because you truly changed my life. Yeah, you almost took it first but you gave me resiliency and a better life because of it. At the time, I didn't think I'd graduate or get into any college because of my injuries. I thought I'd be in pain forever and that there was no hope. But, I never gave up - I grew up. It took two years of hardship to realize that hard things make strong people. So, I say thank you, for being on that road on February 9th. Wherever you are, I hope you've found peace too.