About 15
years ago, a good friend of mine took the keys of another friend's car,
drove 60 m.p.h. straight over a mailbox and right into a tree.
REWIND.
In a drunken stupor still devastated by the breakup of the one he called the "love of his life", this 22 year old young man grabbed the keys of another friend's car and raced over to his then ex-girlfriend's house to convince her they should still be together.
In his drunken state of mind, this man ran over her mailbox and went head first into a tree. The violent crash resulted in him being thrown right through his windshield straight into the very tree that left his friend's car totaled.
FAST FORWARD.
About 15 minutes later, he was on the phone with me laughing.
No broken bones. No resulting injuries with the exception of a forthcoming lawsuit and a weekend in jail.
FAST FORWARD.
That man should have died. The cops, the paramedics all told him so. That man should have died. The alcohol which caused him to recklessly endanger his life and others from behind that wheel most likely saved his very life....
Or as the cops told him, "alcohol puts your body in such a relaxed state that many will walk away from car accidents that put the sober in a body bag."
REWIND.
About 20 years ago, my head was spinning. News of a girl I loved was communicated to me on my green rotary telephone; the news that the girl I loved was killed in a car accident.
FAST FORWARD.
She would have been a great wife and an even better mother. But not mine or with my kids. We were simply each other's first loves.
REWIND.
Five years before her death, her little sister took her own life. "How will I live without my little sister?" It was the question I heard everyday for 5 years.
FAST FORWARD.
A decade later, a good friend decided that drinking was the answer to all of his problems. Isolated in a hell called his bedroom, that man lived a lonely existance.
FAST FORWARD.
The very alcohol that once saved his life from a tree that stood angrily in his path; took his life.
REWIND.
Some of us knew irony was around the corner, that day he survived the crash into that tree.
FAST FORWARD.
My head is spinning. Still. "How would I live without her? How do I live without him?"
The questions I constantly ask.
REWIND.
I always wanted to know my purpose here. To raise a family? To fall in love? To be a martyr to someone else? To love or be loved? To just be everyone's best friend or brother?
I always wanted to know my purpose here.
FAST FORWARD.
That old oak tree standing quietly in front of someone else's home still stands strong. But if you look close enough, there is a scar left from that car crash 15 years ago.
And I wonder if that tree could speak or think if he would wonder what his purpose is.
STOP.
REWIND.
In a drunken stupor still devastated by the breakup of the one he called the "love of his life", this 22 year old young man grabbed the keys of another friend's car and raced over to his then ex-girlfriend's house to convince her they should still be together.
In his drunken state of mind, this man ran over her mailbox and went head first into a tree. The violent crash resulted in him being thrown right through his windshield straight into the very tree that left his friend's car totaled.
FAST FORWARD.
About 15 minutes later, he was on the phone with me laughing.
No broken bones. No resulting injuries with the exception of a forthcoming lawsuit and a weekend in jail.
FAST FORWARD.
That man should have died. The cops, the paramedics all told him so. That man should have died. The alcohol which caused him to recklessly endanger his life and others from behind that wheel most likely saved his very life....
Or as the cops told him, "alcohol puts your body in such a relaxed state that many will walk away from car accidents that put the sober in a body bag."
REWIND.
About 20 years ago, my head was spinning. News of a girl I loved was communicated to me on my green rotary telephone; the news that the girl I loved was killed in a car accident.
FAST FORWARD.
She would have been a great wife and an even better mother. But not mine or with my kids. We were simply each other's first loves.
REWIND.
Five years before her death, her little sister took her own life. "How will I live without my little sister?" It was the question I heard everyday for 5 years.
FAST FORWARD.
A decade later, a good friend decided that drinking was the answer to all of his problems. Isolated in a hell called his bedroom, that man lived a lonely existance.
FAST FORWARD.
The very alcohol that once saved his life from a tree that stood angrily in his path; took his life.
REWIND.
Some of us knew irony was around the corner, that day he survived the crash into that tree.
FAST FORWARD.
My head is spinning. Still. "How would I live without her? How do I live without him?"
The questions I constantly ask.
REWIND.
I always wanted to know my purpose here. To raise a family? To fall in love? To be a martyr to someone else? To love or be loved? To just be everyone's best friend or brother?
I always wanted to know my purpose here.
FAST FORWARD.
That old oak tree standing quietly in front of someone else's home still stands strong. But if you look close enough, there is a scar left from that car crash 15 years ago.
And I wonder if that tree could speak or think if he would wonder what his purpose is.
STOP.
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