Around my earlier teen years, I started to discuss with my friends how "weird" it would be if one of us were killed. We were all freaked out about it, but never thought it would happen. It was just something that we brought up and did not think about much after. Last summer, I unfortunately understood how it would be "if one of us was killed." The day the Jordan died, I was at Red Rock hiking with some friends from another school. The last thing that could have crossed my mind was my long-time friend dying. About the time that we were driving home, my friend was being uncovered from a wall of dirt that had collapsed on him. Around 9:30 p.m., I received a phone call from my friend's mom next door. She said, "I have some sad news, Jordan died.".
"What? Jordan?" was all I could manage to say. When she said yes, she had to go because she needed to call more people (her son was at the accident). There is something unexplainable about death. I did not cry when I hung up the phone. I stood there in my room in painful awe. My parents asked me who it was on the phone and I said, "Jordan died." Right when I said, "died," the very instant that I said it, tears started to fall uncontrollably. I remember it like it was five minutes ago. Just saying that stabbing phrase, hit me like a ton of bricks.
The weeks after Jordan passed away, I spent an ample amount of time thinking about what he never got to do and the time we spent together. I realized that I could never recall him angry or stressed out. It is because he enjoyed life and had no embarrassments or regrets about what he did. It made me wonder about myself and about my attitude in life. I have tried to be laid-back like him and spend more time enjoying life.
Jordan's death has brought me to a more realistic world. When I see a show or movie that has death, I think of the families and friends of the fallen one and how they are feeling.
