Decisions

One time there was this guy named Beroy D. Bartley*, and he was not a good person.  He was a selfish person, an out-of-control person, a bad person.  One day, he decided to get his car out of an impound lot and steal some license plates and drive without insurance.  He decided to drink too much and smoke some pot and drive his car kind of crazy.  He decided to go so fast down a hill while a little red car was driving through the intersection at the bottom of it.  He decided to go so fast that the little red car got super smashed into a pole and a nice girl’s pelvis got really smashed and her rib got pretty smashed and her tooth got a little smashed.  He decided to go so fast that the little red car’s windshield would break and the glass would go into the girl’s face and arms and legs.  He decided to go so fast that she would have to go in an ambulance where her clothes would get ruined and her nose sparkle would be taken away and her favorite flip flops would disappear.  He decided to go so fast that she would spend seven days in the hospital and would be in a ridiculous amount of pain and would have lots of doctors and nurses poke and prod her.  He decided to go so fast that her parents flew in to town for an un-vacation and her mom stayed for a month to take care of her and her friends brought flowers and treats and tried to make her laugh.  He decided to go so fast that she spent six weeks in bed and had to give herself shots in the belly and couldn’t shave her legs.  He decided to go so fast that every move made her body wretch with pain and made her cry and not feel like herself.  He decided to go so fast that she had to spend lots of money on pillows and medicine and grandma toilets to make life semi-comfortable.  He decided to go so fast that she couldn’t teach her students and had to withdraw from classes that would make her smarter and a better teacher.  He decided to go so fast that it is almost four months later, and she has lost 15 pounds and her clothes don’t fit and now she feels strange in her body.  He decided to go so fast that she still isn’t normal and is tired of it all.

He drove so fast, but now she knows how lucky she is to have an amazing family and dear friends that will love her even when she is hysterical and drug-induced and grouchy and teary and a mess.  He drove so fast, but now she knows that if she can get through this, she can get through anything. He drove so fast, but she is thankful for the small pocket of safety she was in that night.  He drove so fast, but now she knows that you can be doing everything right, and the unimaginable can still happen.  He drove so fast, but now she knows she will be ok.

*She knows that is not his name.  She also thinks that he has a dirty blonde mullet.

Thank you to those of you that have been so great to me.  I can’t thank you enough. Mwah!

XO, me