In the winter of 2011, I experienced an event that had a major impact on my life. The day started easily enough, my friends and I were spending the day skiing and, we were all excited. When we started our day, the weather was cold, but the roads were clear. I saw no need to spend time installing snow chains on the tires of my car. I wanted to spend the time on the ski slopes having a good time with my friends. We hit the slopes and paid no attention to the wind gusting a bit. It was a perfect day and, I was having so much fun. While my friends and I were enjoying ourselves, the weather changed. The wind picked up and snow began to fall. Even at this point, I did not see a reason to worry. Nothing about the snow and the wind seemed unusual; it was winter and we were in the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, not far from Seattle, Washington; snow and wind were really common during this time of the year. We had another run on the slopes, it was now getting late and the sun would be setting soon. My friends and I were all tired from a long and active day so, we decided to gather our gear and head for home. It all seemed so ordinary, we had enjoyed many skiing trips together, and nothing at all felt different to me this time.
I can still remember how it happened. We were driving home, coming down the mountain; everyone was quiet because skiing tires people out easily. I did not mind the quiet; I needed to focus on the road because the road conditions were not as good as they were during the drive up the mountain. I still was not terribly concerned but wanted to be careful. We hadn’t been driving very long when I noticed the roads seemed to become more slippery and icy with each passing minute. I held tight to the steering wheel and took a deep, calming breath. That is when it happened; I felt the back end of my car begin to slide from left to right and back again. It seemed like it was just a small skid. I took a deep breath again; things were ok now. I had no reason to worry. At least I thought I had no reason to worry. Once again without warning, the back end of my car slid from left to right but, this time, it was much faster and harder to control. The jerking movements startled my resting friends who looked frightened and confused. Suddenly, I could not control the car. I fought to regain control but by this time the car was sliding almost sideways and began to slip into the lane of oncoming traffic. I turned the steering wheel as hard as I could in the opposite direction. I thought that is what all of the safety experts suggest when a car is sliding out of control. I had to quickly turn the steering wheel back because we were about to go off the road and over the side of the mountain. I stepped down hard on the break but this didn’t help. It seemed as if breaking hard made the car more difficult to control. I had no control of the car at all. We crossed over into the other lane; we were sliding on the icy roads towards oncoming traffic again. All I could do was hold tight and hope for the best. Television and the movies show moments like that in slow motion with a deafening silence. It really seemed like that to me. Somehow we passed through the other lane without oncoming traffic hitting us. For one second I believed we might be ok; then I heard a thunderous crash and felt the impact as my car crashed into the side of the mountain. That was a horrible moment I will never forget. I can still feel the car sliding and I was helpless to stop it. It really felt like an awful dream. I can’t understand how, but my friends and I were all safe except for one friend who sprained his arm. We waited for a tow truck and the whole time I was thinking about the many ways things could have worked out. This was the worst accident I had ever seen. I also thought about how things could have been if I had taken the time to put the snow chains on the tires. I replayed the accident, maybe I shouldn’t have stepped on the break so hard or maybe I steered the wrong way when we were sliding. Maybe the best thing I could have done that day was to stay at home.
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"In the Blink of an Eye".
In the years since that accident, I think my outlook on life has changed in a few ways. I see that life is fragile and we are all more vulnerable than we know. My friends and I could have all died on the mountain that day, or suffered permanent injuries. Someone in an oncoming car could have hit us and been hurt. I have also learned that even though life is fragile, we still have to live it. It took me a long while to drive without being afraid; I still feel very uncomfortable on snowy roads or mountain roads. I can’t let that make me stop doing the things that I need and want to do. If I hid in my room every day I wouldn’t be living just existing. A final thing that I learned that day is that you don’t always get a warning and you need to do the best you can. When I think about my accident and the other really awful things that happen so randomly in the world, it is unsettling. I can’t see why people having a night out or doing their jobs or even kids at school randomly lose their lives because someone is crazy or has some weird agenda. It is a really scary to think about and I don’t know if I will ever get used to it. Being aware of that helps me to remember to enjoy the present and live in the moment; everything can change in the blink of an eye.
