On October 15, 2016, I was scared for my life. I was in a wreck with one of my best friends and it was the scariest thing I'd ever experience.

We were driving back home from going to the "The Girl on the Train" at Malco Cinema. It was a little after 10 p.m. or so when we hit Hwy 35. We were just sitting there like nothing would happen, just talking about anything and everything when it all changed. About 5 miles until the end of 35, I noticed a tree starting to fall, and before I could say anything to Shelby, it had hit us and we were skidding across the road. Apparently, it had uprooted because it was just so dead.

By the time we stopped skidding, we looked at each other, in panic that we were about to be hurt pretty bad. Thankfully, we weren't and as soon as we knew we were okay, we started searching for our phones. In the 30 seconds or so we were skidding, our phones, her glasses, my drink, face powder, anything that could, went flying. We finally found our phones after what took forever, and dialed 911. Since we were right outside of the Cleveland County line, we reached them and after they figured out where we were, they had to transfer us to Drew County 911, which seemed like it took forever.

You would think with the police arrived you would feel somewhat relieved. However, with us, that is not how one cop in particular made us feel. He asked us what we had been doing that night, in detail, going on to say that we must not be going to church enough if a tree fell on the car. I can understand to some extent that if a tree falls on your car, it is a freak accident that seems like it means something about the way you've been living your life. On the other hand, we didn't need to be questioned like we had done something wrong. We weren't intoxicated, we literally went to the movies, sat in McDonald's and ate, then drove back. That was it. We didn't do anything we weren't supposed to, we were just having a chill night.

The crazy thing about this whole thing is at 9:55 p.m., my dad asked me where I was, since I had been gone all day. I replied with, "on our way back from Monticello", and he said, "Groovy. Love u". Now, I didn't realize that I never responded to his last message until Monday morning when I had asked him if I had to go to school. I regret not responding because you never know what could happen. I could have been severely injured, or worse, and would have never told him "love you too". Always respond to messages, because you never know what could happen and you don't want the last text you got, be one that you purposely ignored.

This whole experience has taught me a life lesson. When the air bags deploy, they don't stay inflated and they smoke. Don't always depend on Onstar, because if your car shuts off, it no longer works. Recovering from a car wreck is worse then the actual wreck, and you don't always automatically get an ambulance. More importantly, it makes you realize that you are never promised another day, so don't have any regrets. I am truly blessed to have lived through that wreck and we were able to go back to doing what we were used to doing week to week. Never take your life for granted, but more importantly, don't take the time you have on this Earth for granted by doing stupid stuff you'd regret later on. This has also strengthened my belief in God, but I won't get too deep into it. I would never wish a car wreck on my worst enemy and I hope no one has to go through what we went through.