April never knew what was happening because it all happened so fast. And after all these years, and the inaccurate reports, I feel that April needed a voice to explain to those she left behind what really happened. Extrapolating from a police report doesn’t do this incident justice. It’s not right to assume she lost control of her vehicle. It’s more like the vehicle took control of her.

I will never forget the event of that day. It plays over and over in my head each time I arrive and depart the Hamptons. I remember the shock of the visual as well as the emotional experience. I read as much as I could about April’s life from friend’s websites and newspapers; she was indeed an awesome girl.  She left me with an indelible memory I can never forget by the way she lived her life to her final exit.

On my way back to the city the following Sunday, after I learned that she had died in the hospital, I stopped at the site of the accident. Even though I didn’t know her, I thought I would say goodbye. As I stood under the tree where she met her final fate, I looked up to heaven and noticed a pair of earbuds hanging from a branch, the ones she was wearing when I last saw her conscious. I lifted the earbuds off the branch and clinched them into the palm of my hand as I lifted my hand to my heart. I felt a quiet calm come over me.

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