A normal day...(Riggenbach blog post 1)

It was a normal day. I got up just as I did everyday. I went through my entier home routine. I remember it being a cool crisp morning in September. I went through the whole day with laughter, and not a thought crossed my mind that at the end of the day my life would forever be changed. That night I had just gone to bed, and I heard the phone ring. I did not think much of it, but that phone call is one that you never want to take. From my room I could hear mom say "I am just going to go over there we will tell Jason in the morning." I was curious but I thought if it were something really bad Mom would have told me. The next morning mom came into my room before I had awaken. She sat on the side of my bed with tears in her eyes she said "I have something I need to tell you." At this point I knew something was about to rip my heart right out of my chest. Before Mom said anything else I felt the blood rushing to my head my hands got clammy as the words I never wanted to hear hit the cool morning air like a built from a gun. My friend Eric had been in a car accident. That was all I needed to hear. I knew what had happened I knew I would never see Eric again. I went through the whole day thinking to myself that I was not his closest friend I have to be strong for everyone else. I had to be strong for my cousin as Eric was his best friend. People asked me all day if I was ok and my only response was I will be ok...I will be ok.

Later, I heard the whole story Eric had been riding to football practice with some friends in a small pickup. A potato truck had stalled earlier that day in the middle of the road, and because the sun was so bright the driver did not see the truck in time to stop.

It was not until the funeral that I cried. My uncle wore a tie that Eric hated, and when he went up to the podium to speak he said "Eric hated this tie...so we are going to take care of that right now." He pulled out a pair of scissors and cut the tie in half. It was at that moment that I realized what had happened even though I played it over and over in my head. It was "a story that had just begun but death tore the pages all away"(Kenney Chesney -Who you'd be today).

I will never wake up again without wondering how the day might end or what news awaits the next....