Hello. My name is Christina Erickson, I’m eighteen years old, and today was my funeral. The day that I died started out as any other summer day would for me. I woke up, did my hair, brushed my teeth, and was out the door, on my way to the beach with my friends.

This summer was going to be the “Ultra Summer”, as we had already dubbed it. High school was over for good for us, and college was only a month and a half away. Of course, Alexis, Holly (my two best friends) and I were all going to the same college come fall. What else would you expect from girls who had been best friends since kindergarten?

But as I was saying, this was going to be the summer for us. We’d drive an hour to the beach everyday, and the last three weeks before school started would be devoted to a road trip. We planned to go to Fort Lauderdale (our favorite vacation spot) one last time before we were officially “college kids”.

So, anyway, we got to the beach, and I swear it was the best day ever. We splashed around in the water, ate ice cream on the boardwalk, and built a humongous sand castle (which we then proceeded to knock down of course). People stared at us as if we were little kids, but it didn’t matter to us. We were having fun.

The sun started to set, so we decided to call it a day. We stopped at a nearby diner for dinner first, and ate with our freshly pink suntans visible to all of the other customers. During dinner, Alexis, Holly and I started talking about getting an apartment together near the campus of our new school. Nothing would ever separate us, we vowed. Little did we know, separation was closer than any of us had expected.

It started to rain after we left the diner. Alexis pulled over and let Holly drive, since Alexis has a fear of driving in the rain. We were all singing loudly to the tune of our “theme song”, “Barbie Girl”, when it happened. All I remember is the screeching of tires, a flash of white light, and screaming as we hit the other car. Alexis wasn’t wearing a seat belt, so she was thrown against the windshield, which shattered. The driver’s side had the hardest impact, so it all caved in on Holly’s left leg. I was thrown from the vehicle.

Holly walked away with a broken leg and arm, Alexis fell into a coma, and I died instantly. The driver of the other car was drunk, but he won’t have to go to jail. He died too.

Like I said, today was my funeral. My parents were like zombies through the whole thing. Family and friends kept coming up to them and telling them how sorry they were, but they didn’t look as if they were paying much attention.

My eight year old little brother wouldn’t come near my coffin. He thought it was all a cruel joke. If only it really were, then I could still tuck him into bed like I always do, and tell him how much I love him.

When my older sister passed by my coffin, she whispered to me that she had just found out she was pregnant, and she was going to name it Christopher if it was a boy, and Christina if it was a girl. In honor of me, she said. I’ll never get to hold my niece or nephew. I’ll never even get to have children of my own.

I didn’t see Holly or Alexis there. Alexis is still in a coma, but I don’t know where Holly was. Maybe she felt as thought it was her fault, seeing as she was driving? Oh, how I wish I could see them again. Tell them that everything will be okay. Tell them to go ahead and start college without me, because I’ll be watching over them from here.

My name is Christina Erickson, and today was my funeral.