I step out onto the hotel balcony and see palm trees swaying in the air, the waves crashing onto the loose and powdery sand, and the wind just barely howling enough to provide a soft breeze. It’s so beautiful, I wonder why we’ve never been here before. It seemed so relaxing and refreshing, or so I thought…

I wish we had never gone on that trip. What was supposed to be a fun family vacation turned into a traumatic experience that has changed my life forever. 

“Mom!!! Can we please get pizza for dinner after we swim?”, my youngest brother, Bryan begged. My mom yelled across the hotel room loud enough for me to hear from the balcony, “Of course we can honey!”  Gazing off at the waterfront, I felt the subtle gust of wind cooling my body down from the balmy weather. I unclenched my jaw, dropped my shoulders down and let my arms fall down by my side. I sat there taking deep breaths in and out, the tranquil environment allowed my mind and body to be at ease. While sitting there, more relaxed than I had ever been, I began to imagine how wonderful that day would be. A day full of swimming in the ocean, followed by a pizza dinner…

Little did we know that the small decision of getting pizza for dinner that night would leave a memory that will constantly haunt us all. If I could go back and suggest anything else, I most certainly would. 

 Excited to swim in the Ocean for the first time, all five of us kids scrambled through our suitcases to find our favorite swimsuits. Within five minutes, we were all sunscreen and swimsuited up. We sprinted out of our hotel room, down the stairs, and out onto the beachfront that was right outside of our hotel…

I remember feeling the sand and rocks stuck in between my toes. I remember falling in love with the ocean and it’s waves that day. It was the start to what I thought was going to be the most amazing and memorable vacation of my life. It may be memorable now, but not in the way I envisioned.  

“C’mon kids! We’ve been out here for five hours, it’s time to get dressed and get pizza,” Dad said to us. Our bodies had been lathered in sunscreen, but we still ended up as red as a tomato. Covered in sand, we all grabbed our shoes and clothes and sprinted towards the shower and stairs connecting the beach to our resort. The scorching sun beating down on the sand made it sand hot to the touch. Our feet were tingling from the hotness of the sand and we were all racing to make it to the ice cold showers to relieve our feet from the heat, as well as wash off the sand that was all over us. After some time, all seven of us had washed and dried off and we made our way back to the hotel room. Every one of us were digging through our bags to find which outfit we wanted to change into. While we were getting dressed and fixing ourselves up, we heard a knock on the door. It was all of Kyle’s teammates wanting him to stay at the hotel for a while and go out to dinner with them. “Please Mr. and Mrs. Alivo, pleaseeeee?” they begged. “Sure, but make sure you’re always checking your phone,” my parents said…

I didn’t think much of it at the time. Him staying with his friends at that moment, wouldn’t be much different than when it happens at home right? Wrong. I wish he would have just stayed with us that night. 

The parking garage of our hotel was huge. There were four levels of parking and three different main buildings. A sixteen hour drive with seven people and a week worth of clothes, toiletries and individual items doesn’t really work with a minivan. We rented a huge fifteen passenger van for the road trip, but it only fit in a limited number of parking spots. We ventured out of the elevator and through the whole parking garage to get to our van. We all hopped right in, fastened our seatbelts, and were ready to go. Until the car decided to not start and we had to call AAA. After about 30 minutes, the AAA people showed up, jumped the car, started it back up again, and we were ready to roll...

We thought it was just one small mishap, nothing else could go wrong. I wish that was true. What if the car's problem was supposed to be a sign to not leave the hotel that night? We should have paid more attention. 

With one less child than usual, we drove our way to Mod Pizza and ate dinner. Like normal, Brody had to throw a fit because pizza wasn’t what he wanted to eat. He complained and complained and eventually my mom took him out to the car to talk and grab a sweatshirt. They made their way back inside and we sat around a table eating together. I stared out the window to see the blue sky turning black, with street lights, shops, and restaurants to light the way. We finished up, cleaned our table and walked out of the door towards the parking lot. “STOP!” “PLEASE DON’T GO BY YOUR CAR,” a woman from another car circling the parking lot screamed at us. They drove their car towards the front of ours and shone their bright lights at the man hiding underneath our van. The boy in the backseat of the car shouted, “What are you doing under their car? Get out from there!” As the boy proceeded to open his car door and chase the man out from under our car until he was almost across the street. We called the cops and told them what happened and they sent an officer our way. Nothing happened as a result of this, the cops came and told us we were good to go.

Those people may have saved our lives. We don’t know the intent of the man under our car. He could have had malicious intentions to steal the car or one of us or hijack the car while we’re in it. Or he could have just been hiding under the car drunk. We’ll never know. Had the man been there ten minutes ago when my mom and Brody went out there alone? What if something would have happened to them? What if the man would have hijacked the car and taken us somewhere? We wouldn’t have Kyle. What would he do without us? My mind was racing at 1,000,000 miles a minute. Thousands of what ifs came to my mind…

Now, thanks to this man, I’m traumatized. I’m anxious everytime I go out in public. I’m too afraid to go anywhere alone. I won’t even run into the grocery store without one of my brothers or a friend. I refuse to park in parking spots between cars, I always park far enough away that I can thoroughly look under my car from every angle possible. Everytime, I jump into my car and lock it as quickly as possible. Sometimes I won’t even leave my house, I sit in my room losing my mind because of anxiety, stress, and fear that was all enstilled in me that night. 

I can still hear the screams echoing in the back of my mind sometimes. The sounds of the tires screeching and the speedy shuffle of footsteps on cement both constantly on repeat. A vacation that was supposed to be the time of our lives instead made us live in fear.