“Hey Danny, get everyone in your room into Grant’s room, our last game is cancelled and I need to talk to everyone now.” My initial instinct was that something terrible has happened. Every year, the varsity basketball team takes a trip down to Galesburg for our annual tournament. Everything was going great and we were all having a great time, but then Coach Lavorato got us all in one room and left for a minute. He came in a few minutes later at 12:25 saying, “Tom, I need you right now. Bring your phone.” About 5 minutes passed, Coach Lavorato comes back into the hotel room where the rest of the team waits. “Boys, there isn’t an easy way to tell you this. Tom’s father was driving down today to see you guys play, he was in an accident,” there was a long pause. “he didn’t make it.”

We had left on Friday for the dreaded 3 hour bus ride to Galesburg. The trip is always highly anticipated, a whole weekend with your friends and playing a game you love. It’s a great bonding experience and tons of fun. After being on the team sophomore year, we knew we had to bring some more things to keep us busy. Xbox solved that problem. The Xbox was some guys’ best friend that weekend. What else could 16 high school athletes need for a few days? Snacks. Most players carried 2 bags, one for clothes and jerseys, with the other packed full of various junk foods and snacks. Pop tarts, goldfish, chips ahoy, pringles, oreos, you name it, someone had it. It was all fun and games the first day, but on the second day, that’s when the tragedy happened. Not only to Tommy, but also the team, as well as the entire community of Park Ridge. Everybody was all happy and having a good time. Coach told everyone to get into one room. He took Tom for a few minutes and then came back to the rest of the team. Then, he told us. There is no easy way to tell a bunch of 16 and 17 year old boys that one of their teammate’s father just died in a horrific car accident. Immediately there was shock, sadness, and a gut wrenching feeling inside everyone in the room. Tears were flowing as if everyone’s eyes were waterfalls. I still don’t believe what happened that day. It was life changing.

This event was the most important thing that has happened to me in my life. I experienced tragedy. I learned that anything can happen at any moment. It changed the way I think. I took things for granted. I didn’t always tell my loved ones that I love them. Now, everytime I hang up the phone or walk out the door, I tell my family that I love them. No matter what the situation may be. We may even see each other later that day. You never know what can happen. This is why you need to appreciate everything that your parents and family do for you. It can be gone at the snap of a finger. This also changed the way I treat other people that I may not know. They could’ve been through a tragedy or something life-altering, you can’t be ignorant when speaking to anyone. You have no idea what people have been through.

I think about this tragedy everyday and remember that life is good and family is important. Whenever I leave my house to go anywhere or hang up the phone I always tell my family that I love them. They are so important and if those are our last words then I will be able to live with myself knowing that they knew I loved them, and hopefully they would know the same if it were me.