Name: Juan C Salazar
From: Humble, Texas
Votes: 0
The Start of a
journey
The
first time I had my hands on the wheel in a car was when my father
had chosen one for me as a gift for getting my driver’s license.
Standing behind that wheel I knew from that moment forward I was
destined for greatness! With the ability to progress in life with my
new found freedom it was something that was both invigorating and
gratifying but of course, with almost everything in life it doesn’t
come without setbacks.
The Setbacks
On the very first
day of entering the adult world, I was demolished with rules and
curfews from my parents with one being the most common to never leave
without telling where and when I would be coming back. It was
frustrating at first but I knew they meant well, though saying that I
did have some hope that they would have at least enough trust in me
to be able to go to the store at the end of the neighborhood without
saying “I will be back in 10 minutes, I won’t go to any other
store, I’ll make sure to follow all rules, no texting, no phone
calls, no playing and finally not even think about going to any of
your friends house”. I’ll be honest I broke almost all those
rules the moment I set my foot on the gas pedal, but I didn’t do
anything crazy.
Driving
The beginning of
the first day in my car was the best experience I could have, it was
as if the world was mine to explore and mine alone, the best part
about it would be if I saw one of my friends walking I would pass
them by and just say “Still walking I see? Shame brother, shame”
to which they would respond with “That’s a nice car would be a
shame if something would happen to it.” and the response to that
would be a not so happy hand gesture towards them. Going forward with
the driving part of the car it was as smooth as it could be and I for
a second thought that this was it this is the moment where I will
take on life and come out victorious with me and nothing but the road
ahead of me.
Accidents
Happen
With
the road in front of me and the music playing in the back life was
looking up for the better. I made sure to always know the signs and
traffic rules so that I could ensure that my hard work in the driver
education would pay off and make sure I would never have anything
that could put me down! The first time I saw the car coming I thought
it would stop. The second time I looked I thought it was a bit close.
The third time I looked I didn’t see it that is until I had a
momentarily blacked out when my head collided with the steering
wheel. The next time I opened my eyes was in a bright place with men
in hooded clothes looking over me on a table saying words but
couldn’t be made out with the ringing in my ears. The final time I
woke up was with my family in a white room telling me everything was
gonna be alright and that I didn’t have to worry anymore, I stared
at the faces of my family who looked at me with little hope in their
eyes and sadness. The next time I woke up didn’t come and all I
could think of was “What happened?”.
