Six years ago today I lost a dear friend of mine. He (and one other student at my high school) the unfortunate victims of a car accident. He was about to start his senior year at Federal Hocking, he always made me laugh, and he had the biggest heart. I still remember the day I found out; I literally felt frozen, like time was standing still.
For a while, I was really angry. Angry at God, mostly. Why had He allowed for this terrible thing to happen to someone I cared about? But, since then, I've grown older and wiser in my faith, and I've looked back on that day and realized that Brian's life was something to be celebrated. I remember his funeral: It's the only one I've been to to date, thank God. But there had to have been over 500 people there. To think that someone at the age of 17 touching that many lives is completely astounding! I don't even think I can amount to that at 21.
Brian and his legacy have become an example for me; an example that life is so precious and so short. One minute I was hugging all of my friends outside of the front doors of Federal Hocking High School and wishing them all a great summer, and the next...my friend running up to me at band practice and telling me that it's Brian, there was an accident, and...he was gone. Just like that.
And the time that I have spent here, in this beautiful country, has been just that: precious. I've never learned so much about one place than I have here. I've met so many people whom I feel like I've known my entire life. I've never taken so many pictures of even the most mundane things, that is, until I came here. Upon arriving I knew that I had only four weeks, one month, and I decided the second I dropped my luggage in the middle of my tiny room that I was going to make the most of it. And, darn it, I sure have tried. Some of my fondest memories, I guarantee it, will be from this trip.
On another note, as crazy as it sounds, losing Brian was a turning point in my faith for me. I think that, after that, was the period in my life that I strayed. It wasn't until the middle of the night that October day my freshman year of college that I realized just how far I had gone. I resolved from that day on to try to grow closer to God. Yes, it's still a struggle, that much I will admit, especially with my hectic life. But when I look back on the "big" things that have happened to me recently, like right now, for example, writing this from a dorm room in a royal London borough, I give credit to God. It's always been God, and He never left me. Especially when Brian left me.
I apologize for the bleeding heart testimony. Actually, no, I don't. I do realize that this is a dramatic change from my day-to-day goings-on in England, but today...it's not. Today I'm taking the time to recognize someone special (Brian)...and someTHING special (my faith).
So, Brian...I miss you. I wish that I could have gotten to know you just a little bit better. But I know that someday we will see each other again.
Well, as the age-old cartoon ending would say, "That's all, folks." I suppose that I should continue writing this paper that I devoted an entire entry to (see "ohmygoshijusthavetowriteONEMOREPAPER", which is the entry right before this one), yet it still sits empty in a saved Word document. I'm down to the final days of this amazing journey, and I appreciate you all riding this out with me. <3 Cheers!
blessings, H
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