Casey Wright

English 1101

Walker

February 6, 2003

My Kimberly

It was supposed to be the best summer of my life, the summer before college nothing could go wrong. This was supposed to be the time for making lasting memories before we all went our different ways. And it was, but only for a short time. Just a little over a month after my graduation, I lost one of my best friends and someone I have known since elementary school in a horrible car accident.

Her name was Kimberly Andrews, and she was one of the happiest people I knew. I met Kim at the Kroger that we both worked at about two years ago. As well as working together, we took some classes in high school together. At the time we both wanted to be teachers. We enrolled in a teacher apprenticeship class together where we got to drive to different schools and apprentice for different teachers. It was great. this is when I truly got to know "my Kimberly." We used to get into so much trouble in that! class. Sitting us together was the worst thing the teacher could do. We would talk and laugh, and everyday that we went to a school, we would stop by our Kroger and get some Twizzlers. It was our little tradition.

On the weekends, our friend Carly would have parties at her apartment. It was an expected event for us, and we would be there every time. Those were the times that I choose to remember most about her. I remember at one of those parties she said to me, "Aw, my Casey, I love you!" She must have told me about ten times. I thought she was crazy, but I responded, "I love you too 'my Kimberly'." She had the best laugh. I can still hear it today. What I wouldn't do to hear it just one more time. She was the ! kind of person who could make me smile regardless of what was going on in my life. If she was happy, she wanted nothing more than for everyone around her to be happy too. That was her best quality.

I can still remember everything that happened when I received that phone call. It was June 13, 2002, at about 1:15 in the morning. I heard my cell phone ring but when I picked up, no one was there. I hung up and it rang again. It was Carly her voice was shaky. Was she crying? As the words came out of her mouth, "Casey there's been an accident. Graham and Kim are dead," I sat up in my bed. All I could say was, "Oh! my god, oh my god..." There were no tears at first, until I hung up. I quickly called my boyfriend and I couldn't even speak, I was crying too hard. After I told him what happened, I tried to walk into my mother's room stumbling and clenching to the wall I finally made it. She must have heard me crying because she was already awake. All she kept saying to me was, "Casey, what happened?" I tried to speak, but all I could say was, "Kimberly, Kimberly." They finally came out I couldn't believe what I was saying, "Kimberly is dead." I could barely breath as I lay in my mother's arms. How could this happen?

After crying as much as I thought I could, I went to lie back in my bed. I couldn't sleep I now had to wait for the five o' clock news to come on. When the news finally came on, I wanted to know everything. The first thing the news did was show a picture of the Toyota 4 Runner they had been in. I thought I was going to be sick. I couldn't even tell what it was. I burst into tears again. I knew that the accident was real.

As morning was approaching, my mother tried to make me eat. I couldn't even look at the food, much less eat it. All I wanted to do was see my friends. I got dressed and went to Kroger. I do believe that I cried the whole way there it didn't seem real yet. As I slowly walked into the building, I walked toward one of the adults we worked with and began to cry again. He held me for a minute and called my boss over she then held me for a little bit. She suggest! ed that I help them take some flowers and food over to Kimberly's house. I agreed could I do this?

I drove over with another one of our friends who lived next door to Kim. I knew that next I would have to face her parents and her little brothers. When I walked in, I first went to her mother and hugged her with so much emotion that I didn't want to let go. After that Nicole and I went to the living room and sat on the couch. Her picture was everywhere, and the faces around me were so heartbroken. A little later we went to get Carly so we could buy a picture frame for Kroger to have out so customers could see Kim's shining face. While we were at the store, we got some window paint. All three of us wrote on our cars, " RIP Kimberly...We love you [sic] babe!"

After finding out where exactly the accident happened, Carly and I drove up there to see. As we were driving up 575 north, the mood was silent. As I got closer to exit 19, I got nervous. There it was, cops still there taking measurements. It took a minute for us to get out of the car, but we did. As we walked over to the scene, my stomach turned. The smell, the sight, the debris were all so real. I dropped to my knees and cried.

The next thing that happened we both could have done without. Now the news crews were starting to circle the area. One even stopped because they saw us standing there grieving. The reporter tried to make herself seem compassionate, but she just came off as fake. We both talked a little bit to the reporter and then slowly drove away. As we were driving away, another news crew followed us to a gas station and asked us to talk. Carly declined I said I would. They asked the same things as the others ! did. They didn't care how we felt. They needed the story. After I took Carly home, I went to my boyfriend's job I had to see him. When I was sitting there waiting for him, one of his coworkers said to me, "You look like death." I just began to cry. As soon as he saw me, all he did was hold me as tight as he could. All I could do was bury my face in his shoulder and cry. He actually helped me a lot, because he didn't cry he was strong for me.

The next day was going to be the worst. I had one funeral to go to and one memorial service to go to. Kim's funeral was first. Her parents had a simple graveside ceremony with no flowers. There were so many people there, over 150 easily. Carly and I got very close to the tent and her family. Her family had asked for the guys we work with to be the pallbearers. When they brought her casket out of the hearse, it was the worst thing I had ever seen. At the end of the funeral we were all offered a chance to help in the burial by shoveling some dirt onto the casket. I did, and I'm glad that I did. I got to help put her into her eternal resting place.

It was over. I couldn't believe that I had just gone to the funeral of someone so young, so lively, and so excited about being who she was. I never want to have to go through that again. No one should ever have to say goodbye to someone so young, just seventeen years old. Ever since "the accident," as it is now referred to, I have become much more aware of car safety. I worry about everyone and try to make sure that when anyone is in my car they are wearing your seat belt properly, because Kimberly wasn't. I also make sure that when I leave somewhere or someone is leaving me, that I say goodbye and "I love you." I didn't get to say I love you to "my Kimberly" that one last time. Kimberly...I love you, babe!