“We do not remember days, we remember moments,” Cesare Pavese.

May 24th, 2015, that's when everything changed. It all started during graduation. The sun was out, and the sky was clear. The green grass was blowing in the wind. Flowers, red orange and yellow started to bloom. The trees weren't so bare anymore. Thick dark green leaves covered the trees as we drove past. It was the start of a great day.

Windows were down as we cruised down the highway. I held onto my hair as it blew out the window and towards the back of the car. Music is blaring, as I slide my head and hands out the window to sing and dance. I didn’t see it coming. A big black beetle flew and smacked me right in the forehead. I crawled back into my seat laughing. We were drawing closer to the party and I could just smell the food. The smell of hot dogs and the wind smelling like fresh cut watermelon. My mouth is watering tasting the watermelon, while I walk up the gravel driveway, hand in hand with my boyfriend.

Giggling is all I hear the closer I get to the garage. Finally passing the line of trees hiding the brightly lit garage I see a group of people. there isn’t just a few, but about twenty crowded people, tossing a ball back and forth. My boyfriend, Anthony, his brother, Tanner, and myself decided to join the game. We ate, played and talked. The kids and I played a game of tag, Dani, the graduate opened some presents, and laughter filled the open field. After a few, very fun filled hours we headed back to the car.

“Please drive safe!” Dani shouted after us.

Anthony replied with, “I will.”

Climbing into the beaten down jeep, I demanded that everyone be buckled before we left. Backing out of the driveway, I plugged my phone in and started the music up. We came to a stop in the road. To take a left, or a right. I knew that taking a right would bring us home, but taking a left I didn’t know where it went. He took a left. It was then, as we were turning, I felt a sense of panic wash over me.

I didn't know where we were going, or where we were at.
   

“Anthony I have to be home soon. Where are we? We should probably turn around,” I asked panicked.
   

“Don't worry baby, I know where we are,” He replied calmly.
   

I just let him do his thing. I trusted he would get me home on time and I wouldn't get in trouble. I continued to mess with the music and kept changing the songs half way through. All the windows were down. The dusty smell filled my lungs the faster we went flying down the road. Everyone was singing and dancing, I kept glancing at the speedometer. We were only going forty-five. I looked down to my phone to change the song. The next thing I knew the jeep was swerving. I looked up just in time to see a car passing us. They were going super-fast.
The jeep starting rolling.

I immediately put my arm in front of Anthony. It was in slow motion, the way it rolled, all the items in the back flying around, the glass shattering. His brother’s screams echoed in my ears. Before I knew it, we slammed against a tree. The rolling stopped. The glass settled at the bottom of the seats, on the floors and on the dash. I lost my shoes, Anthony lost his sunglasses, and Tanner felt sick. We needed to get out of the jeep to gain service to contact our parents. The sharp pain of glass slicing my feet was horrible.

Getting to the dirt road, I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and called my mom. Anthony grabbed his phone and called his dad. He owns a tow truck company, so he could get the jeep out of the ditch. We didn’t call the cops, because no one saw the car well enough to describe it, nor did we get the license plate. We could see the dirt piled in zig-zags. When his dad got there, that was the first thing he noticed, how he tried to gain control, but failed.  I saw everyone in pain. His brother curled up next to me, his dad upset the car was totaled, the road destroyed. I looked at Anthony.

He thumped down on the dirt. His feet kicked sand and rock everywhere. His arms slowly wrapped around his legs and he tucked his head in. From a distance, he looks like he is thinking, but as I got closer I could hear him sobbing. I see the rain of tears falling down his red cheeks. I can hear his heart pounding as he gasps for breaths in between sobs. I knew he was hurting. He did the right thing getting us out of the way.

Anthony and his dad got his jeep hooked up to the truck and pulled it out. He came back with my shoes. My phone starting ringing as we all loaded into the truck. It was my mom. she was freaking out about how injured everyone was. No one was.

We all got back to his dad’s house, unloaded the jeep, and took everything out. When I got inside I grabbed the tweezers to try and get the glass out of my stinging feet. Anthony had to grab the needle. All the glass got out of my feet, I changed clothes and went home.

It has taken me over a year to get over the feeling of rolling. I have a fear on dirt roads and I refuse to go on them. It scares me. After the incident, my boyfriend was so hurt that he could have killed me that we broke up two weeks later. It has changed my view on driving. I have become more careful, monitor my speed, and keep my eyes on the road always. I hate driving with people because I don’t have control of the car. Every once in awhile, I hear the glass shattering. The sound of the glass, are knives in my ear.

It all started on the way to a graduation party. The sun was out and the sky was clear. It was going to be a good day. Sometimes taking the less traveled road isn’t as safe as I think. The jeep was totaled, twisted and mangled. My feet were cut, his arms were cut, and Tanner was sick. The good day turned to a bad one. I thank God every day that I survived that horrible crash. It has opened my eyes and changed who I am.