Drunken driving risk hits home if it affects you

By Shelby Crist

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“Ahh. Ahh.” She was awakened by a moaning cry. It was her dad, crying and sobbing down the hall.

She rolled over and assumed it was a routine leg cramp. Soon enough, her mom and one of her brothers came into her room. They came close as her mom whispered “Adam just died tonight.” Whether she realized it at the time or not, those four words would have a long-lasting impression the rest of her life.

Those very words kept replaying over and over in her head. This was too much to handle, so unreal, too incomprehensible for an 11-year-old. In the middle of her sixth-grade school year, she was active in sports, enjoyed being with friends and loved spending time with family. She was a hard-working young girl who never expected anything to interrupt such a great life.

She went into the kitchen to see her mom and brother crying and her dad on the phone, full of disbelief. “What is going on? Is this my brother Adam?” were all questions running through her mind. At one point, she figured she was in a crazy dream and would wake up anytime, but she never did. This was reality.

It was her brother's 23rd birthday; he was out with some friends having fun, obviously a little too much fun. It was winter, Jan. 17 around midnight. He was driving and soon approached a curb. Instead of going with the curve, he continued going straight and hit a tree dead on. He wasn't wearing his seat belt and died instantly.

Who knew that one night, one decision, and what started off as one drink, could change the lives of family and friends forever.

Nearly six years later, she is sitting in homeroom when a video about drunk driving comes on. It gets her every time. With tears rolling down her face, onto her English book, she pretended to be reading. She couldn't stand the fact that it takes a video to make people realize that drinking and driving is a real mistake.

During classes the rest of that day, every little thing seemed to trigger special memories of her brother and her loss. She listens to other students boast about their opinions on drinking. Here we go again, they always think they're right. “The drinking age should be lowered,” one girl said. “Yeah, it's not like many people go out there and drive when they're drinking,” another girl added. Key words in that statement: not many.

Guess what, kids, to you “not many” might seem like nothing. But it's those people who are affected by your decisions who make it more like “a lot of people” rather than “not many.” It may sound repetitive or tiresome to keep saying “don't drink and drive,” but surprisingly, enough people just don't get it.

I guess that's easy for me to say because it happened to me. I was that 11-year-old girl. I was the one who lost her brother because of an alcohol-related accident.

Every day is a gift and you should live it to the fullest. Laugh, have fun, do what makes you happy. But when it comes time to make that decision to drive on a night that starts off with one drink, remember those people who love and care about you. They would be affected forever.

Shelby Crist of Ely is a senior at Prairie High School and plans to attend Kirkwood Community College to pursue a career in physical therapy and play softball. Comments: cristshelby@aol.com