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Personal Narrative: Flashbulb Memories

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On December 1st, 2015, one of my schoolmates and good friends, Josh Jones, lost control of his car and hit a guardrail on Memorial Road, flipping the car and crashing into Arcadia Lake. When researching flashbulb memories, their characteristics, and the national events that fit those characteristics, I decided that rather than trying to recall details from incidents that I was much too young to remember, I would write about something that I remember all too well. While this particular event was not of national significance, it affected everyone in Edmond, which can be like a world within itself. I remember every detail of that day. I remember what I was wearing, where I was, and who I was with. I have an unusually bad memory, but that day …show more content…

They shook their heads, and I slowly got up from the floor, telling them to go back into class while I called my mom. She picked up on the third ring, and as soon as I heard her voice I began crying again. She freaked out, thinking that I was hurt or something of the like. I assured her that I was fine, and then explained to her what had happened to Josh. She began crying, apologizing for the fact that I had lost yet another friend at such a young age. She asked me if I wanted to be checked out of school so I could come home, but I told her no because I wanted to see if I could find someone who had more information on what had happened. I hung up the phone and got onto Safari, googling Josh’s name to see if anything popped up. There was an article stating that a teenager had crashed on Memorial Road, but they were unsure of the cause of the crash or who the victim was. I eventually gave up and went back into Coach Lovett’s classroom, sitting in the desk behind Shelby’s. I got out my AP Government homework and tried to busy myself, distract myself. The class did not have a substitute teacher since Lovett had left so suddenly that morning, so everyone was surprised when he came into the classroom, talking quietly on the phone. I immediately stood up, walking over to his desk, where he was packing up his things. He told me that all of the boys were at Braxton’s house and that I was more than …show more content…

Fox 25 posted an article stating that Josh’s mother had called Coach Lovett to check in on Josh when she saw that there was an accident over by their house, and Lovett told her he had never come to practice (Prickett). I also found out that no one discovered the accident until hours later, when an officer spotted Josh’s car partially submerged in Arcadia Lake (Prickett). There was another, more detailed online article with an interview from Josh’s grandfather, Earl Jones. He explained that Josh’s father had died in a plane crash in 2004, so this was not the first tragedy the family had had to endure (Mills). While none of the articles stated the exact reason that Josh had lost control of the car, his grandfather believed he had hit black ice on the bridge, causing him to veer off the road into the guardrail (Mills). I shut my laptop and sat back, tears welling up in my eyes for the third time in twenty-four

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