My Earliest Memory

I wish it had never happened. Was it a bad dream or reality? I was only 4 years old but it was so clear to me as if it all just happened yesterday. On August 12, 1996, my cousin Chasity, and her husband, Jeremy Jones, were on their way home from Savannah, Georgia. While traveling on the interstate, a drunk driver crossed the median and struck them in a head-on collision right on the driver side. Jeremy was driving the car and was instantly killed. Chasity was the passenger along with another one of their friends, Jamison.
My mom had just picked me up from day care and we were on our way to my aunt’s house when I noticed my mom crying. I can remember asking her what was wrong and why she was crying. After sobbing frantically, she managed to tell me that Jeremy had passed away due to a terrible car accident. Being so young, I had no idea what this meant. I could tell that it wasn’t good since my mom was crying. We pulled up to my Aunt Wanetta’s house to see a few other family members there too. Everyone was crying and talking about how nice of a person Jeremy was.
Jeremy and Chasity lived in Savannah, Georgia on an army base while Jeremy was actively enrolled. Just a few weeks before Jeremy passed away, I can vividly remember being at their Georgia home. I took a little family vacation with my Aunt Wanetta and Uncle Bobby. The drive down was so long and was even harder on me because I was so young. Pulling up to the house, I noticed that it was a sandy color and quite small. As we were getting our luggage out of the car I could hear the loud roar of an airplane flying over head and seeing all of the jets behind the house parked on the base.

Jeremy ran out the door and swooped me up into his arms with a huge smile on
his face. He was so happy to see me and I was more than happy to see him. I can remember that all we did the whole time we were there was play together. I enjoyed his companionship because it was nice to have someone play barbies with me for...