brooks5

Our lives are often marked by moments when we experience a sudden flash
of insight about something. That is an epiphany. When this occurs we

realize that life is not as we have once though of it. My first noticeable

epiphany was recently when a friend was killed. I never imaged something

like that happening and when it did I saw the light. As a child I had two

friends that stayed beside me I always played with, Amber and Kevin. We

stayed friends until we came to high school. We never got to see each other
or talk, because we were busier with other things. Last Monday Amber

stopped me in the hall and asked me to go to Carowinds with her. I told her

to just bring the permission slip by my house. I never expected her to come.

As I had lest expected she came by and had Kevin. We talked and laughed

and caught up on lost time. I rode around town with her and we had the

most fun. I was really glad we had started talking again. That whole week

we cut up together. Friday night we all ate spaghetti together and stayed at

Amber�s house. Saturday we ate ice cream and set at the park for the

longest of time. We decided after church we would ride around.

Church was over and my dad decided I had to go to brush the horses,

which put me out for the day. Amber told me that she would come back

after she went to get my cousin Jeff. I came home and received a

devastating phone call. Amber, Jeff, and Kevin, had been in a horrible

accident. Kevin was hurt bad. Early Monday morning a friend called and

said Kevin didn�t make it. My heart dropped. That is when the flash came.

I realized in that very moment life is the most precious thing. People take for
grated that they will wake up in the morning or go to the senior prom. Kevin
will never get his drivers license, go to the prom, get married, have children,

or even breathe again. His life was taken by a simple mistake that could have
been anybody. I know I should have been there and been there for him. I

wasn�t and can�t be. Now I know life is a gift. The most precious gift you

will ever receive.

As a close friend of Kevin�s, I can say he is in heaven and I will see him

again. We will truly miss Kevin, but through his death our community has

realized that God can take us anytime. God does things for a reason, and I

honestly believe he took Kevin to show all of us youth that tomorrow may

never come. I write this in hopes to make people realize how fast your life

can be taken away.