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BRIDGET'S STORY

Fourteen. What a great age. You are getting ready to start high school and then at the same time you are kind of nervous because it is a big school, new people, new teachers, and you are scared that you might make a fool of yourself. Well, that was the least of my worries. On August 6th 2003, my whole world crashed down. I was in an auto accident. I lost my dad, my sister, and my best friend.

We had a tire blow out and our suv rolled several times. Unfortunately, I wasn't unconscious. I heard and saw everything. It was like a nightmare that I couldn't escape. It was really hard to start school with no best friend to be there by my side to help me get through the day and help me find my classes. Then it would be even harder to come home without my sister coming up to me and asking me, "how was the first day of high school? Were there any cute boys? Did you fall or do anything embarrassing?" Or me asking her the same questions. Then my mom would come home and talk to us about our day, followed by the big daddy who would come home and say hi to us and give all of us a big papa bear hug.

Now when I come home from school it is really quiet and dark in the house. There is never any light in the house. That's what I come home to now. No more laughter or running around crazy in the house. It's all just kind of blank to me.

This is a very scary time for any teenager. It is a time when drugs, alcohol, and cutting can become addictive and start to break you down. It happened to me. I will admit I had a one time experience with all of these. I moved from one experience to the next hoping to find some relief. Cutting was something that I did because with so much anger and sadness and pain, I could take one slit and it would feel great. To me, I thought it was the only way out, but I am here to tell you that it is not. Talk to someone, even if it is in the middle of the night or at 2:30 in the morning. You need to talk to get your emotions out, even if you go into your backyard and scream or throw something. It doesn't matter how, as long as you are not hurting yourself or someone else. You have to remember that you have a lot more on your plate than anyone else. You have to give yourself some time. Don't be too hard on yourself, and don't expect others to understand what you're going through. Remember that God let you live through this tragedy, so why would you want to waste your life?