Personal Narrative Draft

I was nice and cozy in my newly finished senior quilt, when I began to hear voices and movement around me. As I rolled over to see what time it was, my eyes automatically squinted from the brightness of the light that was shining right down on me. Once my eyes adjusted, I saw that my mom, grandma, and two little brothers were already awake. It took me awhile to remember that I was in my grandma’s room at the Assisted Living Center in Butte, Montana. I sat up on the pull-out bed as I stretched, and I was tempted to lay back down and go back to sleep for a little while longer. However, that thought was interrupted as my mom told me that I needed to get in the shower and get ready for the day. After breakfast, we were going to head out to Whitehall, Montana, where there was an antique train bridge where we were going to take some senior pictures. Before getting in the shower, I decided to check my phone that had been charging on the other side of the room.

I had a text from my best friend, Jessie, asking me if I had heard the news. As I replied to that text, my mind was racing with different news that she could have been referring to. Right after I pressed SEND on my black Envy 2, my phone began to vibrate vigorously in my hands as I received several texts from some of my other friends. As I opened one of texts, my eyes read over a couple of words that I never thought I would see. My legs became Jello and I fell to my knees, and my world seemed to come crashing down on me. I checked the messages over and over, hoping and praying that I had somehow read it wrong. Tears rushed down my face as my mom came quickly over to me.

“Lyndsey! What happened?” my mom questioned as she wrapped me in hug.

At that same moment, my little brother Trevor had read something on Facebook and knew what was wrong.

Through many tears and in-between sobs, I tried to tell my mom what was going on, but all I could get out was, “Tylor. Killed. In. Car. Accident”.

            Jessie shared the details with me through text messages because she would start crying again, and it would be too hard. After receiving the few details that were known at that point, I hopped in the shower as an escape from the dreadful texts that were being sent to my phone. My tears mixed with the water pouring out of the shower head, and my head was pounding. At that point, I didn’t even want to read the messages that were sent to me to offer comfort and words of support. All I wanted to do was throw my phone out of the window and wake up from this awful nightmare. How were any words supposed to provide the comfort that I needed at that time? The attempts seemed impossible and pointless. My best friend, Tylor Burke, had just been killed in a car accident, and there I was in a totally different state. I got out of the shower and put on my maroon legging outfit that I had planned to wear for my senior pictures. The person that stared back at me in the mirror, however, did not look like she was ready to go take pictures. The girl in the mirror had glowing green eyes that were bloodshot, a blotchy skin tone, and red streaks that began at the corner of her eyes and continued down her face. She looked like a mess.

            “Lyndsey, do you want to come down and help me serve donuts and coffee downstairs? I am in charge this week and need some help,” said my grandma from the other room.

            As I finished brushing my long, brown hair, I tried to get my emotions under control so that I could go down and help my grandma. I thought that it might help me get my mind off of things for a while, so I headed downstairs arm in arm with my grandma who was wearing her favorite red sweater.  As people began to show up, I tried to stay busy as I greeted each of elderly people with a smile and asked them if they would like any coffee or juice. As people would ask my grandma who was helping her, she would introduce my brothers and she never failed to mention the fact that one of my best friends had been killed just that morning. During these moments, I tried to stay strong, but they usually resulted in me walking very quickly up the stairs and into the seclusion of my grandma’s room, where my mom would be waiting with her arms outstretched.

            A few days later as we were on our way home from Montana, we had to drive past the exact place where the wreck had happened. As we drove past it, I saw the torn barbed wire fence where the car had broken through, and car parts seemed to be scattered everywhere. It seemed as though a totally new dam that I didn’t think existed had broken and the tears were falling down my face faster and faster. Looking at that site, it seemed as if a piece of me was missing. I was only 17 and it was impossible for me to think about going through the rest of my life without one of my greatest friends by my side. Senior prom, graduation, his 18^th birthday, and college were just a few events that he would never get to experience. Even though it has now been seven months since the accident, every time my phone vibrates, I still expect to see his name pop up on my screen.

            These months without him have been very hard, but I have learned to view life with a new perspective. Although so many people have told me that I need to take advantage of every day that I wake up and every opportunity that I am given, it was reassured to me during this time. None of us are ever guaranteed another day. Nobody knows when there time here on this earth will expire, and that is something that we will never have control of. We need to live our lives to the best of our ability and need to learn to make the most of every situation we are put in. Our lives can change at any given moment; it can even change from just one short text message.