Hi:
I am posting this in the hope that youngsters will get to read it somehow. If
you read it, take it and send it around. It is just one of the many ways we
can do something to share valuable life lessons with the next generation.
Leon
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"Please God, IÆm Only 17"
The day I died was an ordinary school day.
How I wish I had taken the bus. But I was too cool for the bus. I remember how
I wheedled the car out of Mom. "Special favor," I pleaded. "All the kids
drive." When the 2:50 bell rang, I threw all my books in the locker. I was
free until 8:40 tomorrow morning! I ran to the parking lot, excited at the
thought of driving a car and being my own boss. Free!
It doesnÆt matter how the accident happened. I was goofing off going too fast.
Taking crazy chances. But I was enjoying my freedom and having fun. The last
thing I remember, I was passing an old lady who seemed to be going awfully
slowly. I heard the deafening crash and felt a terrible jolt. Glass and steel
flew everywhere. My whole body seemed to be turning inside out. I heard myself
scream.
Suddenly it was quiet. A police officer was standing over me. There was a
doctor, and my body was mangled. I was saturated with blood. Pieces of jagged
glass were sticking out all over. Strange that I couldnÆt feel anything.
Hey, donÆt pull that sheet over my head! I canÆt be dead. IÆm only 17. IÆve
got a date tonight. IÆm supposed to grow up and have a wonderful life. I
havenÆt even lived yet, I canÆt be dead.
Later I was placed in a drawer. My folks had to identify me. Why did they have
to see me like this? Why did my mother have to face the most terrible ordeal
of her life? Why did Dad suddenly look like an old man? He told the man in
charge, "Yes, that is my child."
The funeral was a weird experience. All my relatives and friends walked toward
the casket. They passed by, one by one, and looked at me with the saddest
eyes. Some of the boys were crying. A few of the girls touched my hand and
sobbed as they walked away.
I wish someone could wake me up and get me out of this casket! My mom and dad
are so broken up. My grandparents are so racked with grief that they can
barely walk. My brothers and sisters stare ahead like zombies, and move like
robots. No one can believe that this happened to me.
Please donÆt bury me! I have lots of living to do! I want to run and jump
again. I want to laugh and sing. Please donÆt put me in the ground. I promise
if you give me one more chance, IÆll be the most careful driver in the whole
world!
Please, God, IÆm only 17!
====================================
Credit to Mr. Poling is long over due. Please don't take without permission
of:
Author: Dr. Michael Lee Poling
In Memory of Jimmy Rowe
The original title was "God I am only 16"...and I had written it about my best
friend Jimmy Rowe He was killed in a car accident at the age of 16
he was a great friend and I had written it for him, and I have seen it in the
newspaper a lot of times under Unknown Author and that is ok, because what
I had written was from the heart.. and I did not care whether I got credit for
it or not..
I was only 13 at the time I wrote this, and I was traveling all over the Hills
of West Virginia, KY, and Indiana
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