Bad Driving.

Sixteen with a brand new car with a brand new license; probably one of the best feelings ever. It was a snow day in January and the weather was getting really bad so the whole school was sent home early. As we exited they cautioned us on the road and how dangerous the ice was getting. Although I always listen to what they are saying, I never really took it into consideration. I had driven my boyfriend to school that day and thought it would be okay for him to come back to my house. Driving home was just a little bit scary because I thought that I could handle the road. I slipped a couple of times on the way home, and I lived right down the street. I could only imagine what it would be like driving on the actual highway. When we got home the snow had fallen heavily and gathered a good couple of inches. We played in the snow for a good forty five minutes and returned back into the house. We sat down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn when he looked down at his phone. He had seven missed calls and three voicemails from his mother. The same sick feeling overcomes both of us and we look at each other in complete horror. Apparently she heard about the early release from school and wanted him to come directly home. Obviously we missed the memo. We listened to the voicemails with the phone held three inches away from our ears. She screamed at the top of his lungs for him to get home immediately or else he was grounded for two weeks with no phone, computer, or television. At the age of 16, that was like being put in prison. The weather had gotten even worse and I had no choice but to hop in my car and take him home. The roads had gotten so bad that no one should have been driving over 20 miles an hour. I was speeding towards his house frantically sliding from side to side trying not to crash. We were a few miles down the road and I was sweating because I was so nervous, and they weren’t even my parents. I could only imagine how he was feeling. I was at an age of invincibility and I thought that I could do anything, even if it meant speeding on ice.
Surprisingly we arrive safely at his house; he jumps out the door and frantically runs inside. I felt at ease on the way home. I figured I made it to his house so I could easily make it home. I pulled out onto the small two lane highway that ran right through the middle of our town and began driving. Listening to the radio checking out the scenery, you would have thought the road was dry by the way I was driving. Two miles down the road I lost control of my car and began spinning in circles; my nonchalant attitude about driving was coming back to bite me in the butt. I veered to the right and my car began to roll to the right into a steep ditch outside of my new high school. The car rolled three times and on the fourth time around I felt a sudden stop. My shirt was soaked from the tears that streamed down my face. My life literally flashed before my eyes. I looked out the window and I was being held up by a barbed wire fence. That fence saved my life. Before that day I often took simple privileges in life, like driving, for granted. I thought that I was invincible and didn’t feel the need to listen to my parents and teachers warnings; little had I known, they were saying those things for a reason. I still notice and occasional sense of invincibility in my attitude that needs to change, but for the most part I am doing well with it. God gave me a second chance and I try not to take it for granted; but I will NEVER drive in the snow again.