A True Story From 20 Years Ago…
I thought it would be safe to leave my car parked on the side of the freeway. As luck would have it, I ran out of gas on the way to work, so I left my Mustang parked on the side of Highway 4 and walked the rest of the way to work. I never thought that would be the last time I drove that car. That night, as my mustang took its last breath, a part of me died with it.
The graveyard shift ended at about 6:00 AM the next morning, so it was still dark and cold when my manager and I left to go get gas for my car. After filling a small can with gasoline, we headed toward my car on highway 4. Suddenly, we passed the spot where my car should have been, but it wasn’t there.
Just to be sure, we ran the course again, but this time when we got to where my car should have been, I noticed my bumper lying on the freeway next to a wide spray of broken glass and tail lights. As I stood, in horror, looking over the forty foot cliff that made up the edge of the freeway, I saw shattered pieces of my car spread out across the field below me. Immediately, a golf-ball-sized lump began to develop in my throat as my heart started pounding and my eyes became warm, swollen and blurred.
I pulled myself together as we rushed back to work and called the police to find out what had happened: My worst nightmare had become a reality; a drunk driver, driving 140 MPH, hit my parked car and completely destroyed it. After hearing this devastating news from the police station, the next step was to go see my car at the wrecking yard.
When I got there, I couldn’t bear to look at it. The crushed roof, the snapped axils, the completely acordianed rear-end, the shattered glass, the exploded tires, and the melted steering wheel were more than I could handle. All I could do was cry. All of the memories and experiences were gone. The car and its life had been completely taken from me.
Tragedies happen everyday, and life must go on, but that night, a part of my life became the past. However, life did go on, and the memories do live on. Part of me, however, will always be peacefully resting on the front seat of a 1966 Ford Mustang that died on the side of a California highway, in the middle of a cold desert night.
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