Carvings in my brain

Writing is something I tend to do on a daily basis, wether it is throwing together a few lines or composing a detailed description of an event. I get my inspiration from my day to day happenings. However, there is one major even in my life that I just never could make myself write about, no matter how hard I tried. Well all of that changed last night. I am going to share with you a a moment that forever changed my life. This is a sad story but without these moments take us from humans to people with souls. This story is part of a larger one I am writing so some of the details may not make since without reading the full story. But this is all I want to share for now.

Here is my story:

I realized the day before a school retreat my senior year of high school that I did not have a dress to wear. No, a dress was not required but being a 17 year old, high school girl this made me very upset. That night at dinner, my father did the reasonable thing and told me I did not give him enough notice to take me to buy a dress. A little while later he left and told me he was going back to work. Returning home from work, he opened the door, called my name and said we are going shopping. Not wanting him to change his mind I ran to the car and we went to the nearest store. Together we spent too much money on a dress and I was a happy daddy's girl. Falling asleep that night my world was a happy place.

The next morning I loaded my bags into the car and could barely contain my excitement about the upcoming weekend. My phone rang soon after loading the car. It was my friend Josh calling me, I was a little confused because his name was not one that often showed up on my phone. When I answered I heard a broken voice on the other end. He asked me of I heard retreat was cancelled. When I told him no, he replied that Lauren's dad had passed away early that morning. Lauren was my best friend and that news pierced my heart. That very moment is branded in my mind. I simply responded, "okay. " I hung up the phone and ran to my mom. I told her what happened and she went to wake my father with the news. My mind started spinning, my heart began to race, tears swept my face and I began to throw up. To this day it is the most violent reaction I have had to a situation. The next few days bleed together in my mind. Only a few moments stand out as separate events. I remember getting to school that day. It was pouring rain but that did not stop anyone from standing outside hugging and crying. One of my closest friends was late to school that day. I saw his car pull into the parking lot so I went to meet him. I can only imagine what was going through his mind when he saw me walking in the rain with tears flooding my face. When he got out of his car I asked him if he had heard the news. I did not want to speak the dreadful words if I did not have to. He shook his head and I could see the fear in his eyes. I softly told him "Mr. George passed away." There we stood in the rain holding each other and crying. After a few minuted he said, "let's everyone together to pray." We gathered in a circle, held hands, and made an attempt to get words out through the tears. After we prayed, along with my friend Blaine, I headed to Lauren's house to let her know I was there for her. I remember the silent drive to her house. I could not even focus my thoughts. Walking into the house was a surreal moment. It is after that moment that the next few days begin to bleed together...