April 1, 2007

What started off to be a normal day ended as my worst nightmare. I went to work, accidentally leaving my phone at home, not expecting the worst news imaginable. Upon getting home, 9 missed calls, all from my best friend. I call him back and he tells me the one thing that I never expect to hear at the age of 17. My best friend, Justin, had passed away earlier that day, drowned in the Arkansas river. Not something you could take in so easily, my mind refused it. It had to have been a cruel and horrible joke, being April Fool's Day, by Monday all would be normal and the joke over. If only it were a joke, my best friend wasn't lying, Justin was gone from this world forever.

That following week in school was the worst in my life. Trying to cope with the loss of a dear friend, Justin's viewing and funeral service, and following would be abuse from my own father who didn't care at all I had lost someone dear to me.

Between all the news stories we finally figured out what happened. Justin and some friends (Ben, Drew, and Ben's mom and little sister) had gone down to the river for a picnic. The sand bar they had been resting on gave way and Ben's little sister and mother fell in the water. Justin, Ben, and Drew jumped in to try and save them. Justin managed to get Ben's sister and mother out of the river, only to return to the waters to go after Ben and Drew. An onlooking spectator, Mark, saw the incident and jumped in the river as well. Ben safely made it out of the waters. By the time Mark had gotten to Justin, he had already passed. He managed to pull the body to shore, then proceeded to jump back in to go after Drew. Neither of them were seen again until searchers found their bodies that following morning.

Justin, age 17 at his passing, is a hero. His death wasn't in vain and now 2 years later on the anniversary of his passing, we still honor his heroic deeds by living in his spirit and memory. This is the hardest week of my life, a repeat of events in my mind every year. Coping is hard, knowing that one of your closest friends isn't around anymore. I do everything possible to smile, to keep my head high and live normally, for Justin. It's hard though, sometimes to hard.

R.I.P Justin Witt, Drew Griffin, Mark Manning
(4-1-2007)

I'm not even sure why it posted like that..
I did not post all the "snorts" and "snuffles"
o.o

Something's wrong here

It's April Fools. It is happening everywhere.

How lame -_-

How awful!!!
I'm so sorry that happened!!!

It's sad to know he's gone. But he's in a better place and he's a hero. That's how I try to look at it, so I'm not so upset about it.

sorry for your loss

So sorry for your loss, they sound like they were great men.