What I Know Now

As you grow up, you look back and reminisce on the little things in life. These things often include the accidents kids thought were the end of the world, like getting in trouble in elementary school or breaking their mom’s favorite vase. These were the scariest and most upsetting times when I was a child, when a simple mistake was thought to be the end of the world and could ruin your day. Today, I know that the things I thought were horrible then were only petty things compared to the things I see now.

Usually when you lose a family member, it is an older grandparent or other older relative. After my family lost both my aunt and grandfather within just years of each other, my parents frequently said how luck we were to be alive and healthy. They still always tell us to live for the day and never take anything for granted because you never know when everything could change all of the sudden. Only a few weeks ago, on August , a very close family friend of ours was in an accident. J.D. is a twenty-one year old senior at Texas A&M University. Recently his friends came to stay with him in College Station because they were evacuating for Hurricane Gustav. One late night, while the boys were just hanging out at the house, they decided to go fishing back on J.D.’s family’s land. They gathered their gear and took off on a golf cart-like vehicle. Of course being out on deserted land, there was not much light which made it difficult for the boys to see what was ahead of them. Suddenly, the boys struck a cow on the path and all flew from the cart. All three boys lost consciousness, but only two of them came to after several minutes. The third boy, still unconscious, was J.D. who would not wake up. For over three weeks J.D. has been in the hospital, still unconscious due to head trauma from hitting the pole of the golf cart dead on. Many family and friends have come to visit him regularly, but he has yet to fully wake up. The doctors are still unsure if he ever will.

It is heart-breaking to see a boy who still has so much to live for struggle for his life. I know that some days I feel like things are not fair and ask why they happen to me, but the truth is I know that there are worse things that could happen. Although it sounds cliché, I believe that anybody can get through anything with hope and prayer.