System Change

“The worst day of your life?” Alanah asked—she was even becoming emotional. It was easy to tell that she already had an idea about what had happened with Derek and his family.

“It’s probably worse than you think,” Derek said. “I guess my sister put in a lot of work and got my mother, and even my father, to agree to come to my graduation. But I didn’t know any of this at the time and Stace never told me about it. I guess she wanted it to be a surprise.” Derek swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

“That day, I walked out with the rest of my class and got my little rolled-up piece of paper, shook hands with the president of the university, then went back down. Finally, after four years, I was a college graduate with a degree in some that I would never use, and I had plans on becoming a professional football player,” Derek said. “Then, when I got back to my dorm, I grabbed my phone—a communication device—and saw a bunch of missed calls.

“When I called the number back, it turned out that it was the hospital nearby, which confused me,” Derek said, and he took a deep breath. “But after a minute, they figured out who I was, and I was connected to somebody else—I don’t even remember who. It was all a blur after I heard the words that my family had been in an accident.

“I mean, how could they have been in an accident in Arizona? They lived in North Carolina, and my mother, for as amazing as she was in her professional career, hated flying.” Derek shook his head as a tear finally rolled down his cheek. “But no, they gave me my father’s, mother’s, and sister’s name. It was them.”

“Oh, no,” Alanah muttered again, this time with her palm over her mouth.

“Apparently, they had driven through the night to get there in time for my graduation ceremony, but some kids who had been partying the night before decided that they were in good enough condition to go for a ride,” Derek said and clinched his fist. “My family never made it to the university…” He took another deep breath in. “When I got to the hospital, my mom and dad were both gone already… and Stace was barely hanging on.” Derek gripped the arm of his chair and was barely able to keep himself from crushing it.

Alanah just sat in silence, staring at Derek. It seemed she didn’t really know what to say to him.

“I sat beside her bedside and hoped and prayed… I held her hand in mine…” Another tear ran down Derek’s face as he spoke. “She opened her eyes, and for a second, I thought she was going to be okay… I thought my prayers worked… do you know what the last thing she said to me was?” he asked rhetorically. “She gave me a weak smile and said, ‘Looks like we missed your graduation…’” Derek snorted and shook his head. “That’s just like her. She was so used to making light of everything to keep me and my parents from fighting…”