Wedding Day
Donna Huffer, NY
October 2000
O.K. I know that this story is going to sound a little farfetched, but bare with me.
The story begins 12 years before I was born. It was a beautiful spring day for wedding flowers just beginning to bloom, air fresh with the morning dew. A beautiful woman, radiant with the love she is about to commit her life too.
She in a satin wedding gown, and by the request of the groom she has her long auburn hair loose flowing down her back with a tiara as her only adornment.
They say their I do's and leave the church of well wishers to go to their reception when not even a mile from the church doors their limo was struck by a drunk driver in a flatbed pickup truck.
The accident takes the lives of the newly married couple at 4:20 p.m. in the afternoon.
Now twelve years and twelve hours later I was born. I was born 4:20 a.m. in the morning.
Now here is were the story takes the weird turn twelve days before my twelfth birthday, I had found the mass card from the funeral services of the bride and groom. And I asked my mother who they were and she told me some of the story, but my great aunt was the one who really showed me the story, because the bride was her cousin. She showed me her death certificate and her pictures. I couldn't believe my eyes when I look at the pictures this woman looked exactly like me (or I should say I looked exactly like her) except that she had long red hair and mine was dark brown (but for as long as I can remember I always wanted red hair).
Now twelve days later on my birthday, I was going to the pizzeria with my friends from school, after our practice for the chorus which would leave us in school until after 4:00 p.m., practice ran a little longer than usual. But as we were getting ready to cross the street to go to the pizzeria, I had this funny sensation to stop but I resisted it, then out of the corner of my eye I saw this bright flash of red and white and something told me to stop. But before I could stop one of my friends was already halfway across the street. A car came racing from around the corner and struck her. Later we found out that the car that hit her was a pickup truck. That year she had to stay home from school for almost six months with a shattered hip and a broken arm and leg. Now don't know if you believe this story, but every twelve years I'm going to be watching my back.