Summer is my favorite time of the year.  Sunshine, blue skies, gentle breezes.  All those things added together make for a very magical time.  Anything can happen in the summer.  Anything is possible.

                Of course, my love of the season could stem from my parents.  Mom and Dad were killed in a car accident when I was 12 years old.  They had left my 8-year-old sister, Erin, and me with Mom’s parents while they went to Lansing for a weekend.  They were driving South along US 127, heading home on Sunday night.  There was a snow storm, pretty normal here in Michigan winters.  My dad was a good driver, and was taking his time on the highway.  Not everyone else was doing the same thing, though.  One particular driver had been drinking too much.  Add that to the ice and the speed the car was traveling, and you have a recipe for disaster.  My parents’ car was hit so hard that it flipped in the air, flew across the median, and landed in the northbound lanes.  The impact killed them both, though no one could say if it was the initial impact or the impact of a northbound car that did it.

                I can say that the pictures of their car and the memories of their funeral kept me from wanting to ever drink.

                Nana and Papa, Mom’s parents, took Erin and me in.  It didn’t seem fair for them to have to do it.  They should have been planning for their retirement and spoiling their grandchildren.  Instead, Papa kept working while Nana stayed home for us.  I appreciate what they have done for me more than I can say. 

                I worked hard in school, graduating from Grass Lake High near the top of my class in 1994.  From there, I went on to Princeton.  That is when my life really got interesting!  The first person I met there was Crystal Waters.  It’s impossible to not have an interesting time in college with a roommate like Crystal!

Laura Bell