This Sunday, I was coming back from home and heading back to Louisville. I was the passenger seat, enjoying the long and comfortable ride. We were on the road for roughly an hour and we had hit our halfway point safely, the drive was going smooth and we were singing along to the radio (I had changed it to Summer Hits of the 2000s, my favorite station).

But suddenly, that changed.

We were decently far behind a black SUV, a car, and a truck. And something nearly instantly became apparent to us - the driver of the SUV was drunk. He was swerving in and out of the two lanes, stopping and starting suddenly, and we became so scared quickly. We were now in the left lane (opposite of the SUV), trying to pull past them, when he swerved into our lane instantly and came to a sudden stop. The driver of the car I was in slammed on the breaks, you could hear things flying forward at the suddenness of the stop, my heart began to race, and a scream escaped my lips. It was one of the scariest moments of my life.

Soon the driver got back into the right lane, nearly hitting the car head-on and we were able to escape the close proximity to the SUV. After a quick call to 911 to report the driver, we made it back safely. But the near-accident fear never left me. I was up until the late hours of the night, checking police reports and accident reports, praying beyond all measures that the driver had not hit nor hurt anyone in his recklessness. My stomach still knots at the thought of that driver and at the thought of what he could have done and had almost done multiple times to multiple people.

When I got back into my dorm that night, when I was settled enough to speak, I prayed. I prayed for all the blessings in my life - all the people, all of the glorious opportunities, and all of the memorable experiences I've been blessed to be given. I prayed for everything I was thankful for - nature, people, and life. I prayed for chances and doors being open to me, things that could have been so easily taken away hours earlier. I prayed for that driver, in the hopes that he and whoever he neared would be safe, I prayed that he would get help. I prayed for everything in my life that I take for granted - my loving mother, my supportive brothers, my nutty family, my earnest friends, my health, and even myself and my own life. I prayed for everything in my life that night and I have that driver to thank for that.

I had become lost within myself lately, with the busyness of my personal life and the chaos of everything that has been happening otherwise; I haven't taken the time lately to appreciate and embrace everything in my life and everything and I've experienced. It's all taken back-burner to me in my college life, as I'm always doing homework, or working, or sitting in a classroom; it's an easy thing to get lost in it all. But this experience has helped me see otherwise. It taught me to be thankful every day, it taught me to appreciate every day, it taught me to live every day.