Have you ever had a bond so strong no one nor nothing could split you apart? I have; it's called family. They cheer with you in your most joyful triumphs, cry with you in your deepest, darkest moments, and most of all they love you through this giant roller coaster we call life. My family is amazingly close and puts each other before all, except the Heavenly Father. We stick together through the highs and the lows of life, never letting one another down. It's a good feeling knowing you have family behind you, always ready to keep you safe no matter what the cost. That's why when you have a family member almost die it changes you. My brothers near death experience made me realize how important he is to me and how much he has helped shape me into the person I am today.
     

My brother and I are very close; he makes me laugh when I want to cry, stand up when I fall, and keep going when I want to do is give up. He has taught me to be a strong, independent person. Not many girls are lucky enough to have a big brother that looks out for them, protects them, and can help them make good decisions. I am one of the very fortunate girls who get to have a big brother in my life. I can't imagine my life without him; I don't want to imagine my life without him. He has been such a big part in my life for so long I had never thought of something horrible possibly happening to him. I used to think that he would be there to protect me for the rest of my life and that nothing awful could happen to me if he was there. That soon changed when my mom got a call at  four in the morning saying her son was in the hospital and they needed her permission to operate on him. That's the day it all changed, and I knew he wouldn't always be there to protect me from all the atrocious things that go on in the world.
    

It was no unique night; my brother and his close friend Cody had gone out to hang with Adam at his house. Kaid’s car didn't have much gas in it so the boys decided to take Cody's car. On the way there they listened to their favorite song, “Ice Ice Baby”, by Vanilla Ice. The night started out great, wrapping to the song the whole way to Adam’s house they thought it was going to be a good night. When they got to Adam’s house all three boys went down in the basement to his room to play video games. They played till three thirty in the morning and then went upstairs to get some food. They looked in the pantry and the fridge top to bottom and didn't see anything they found appetizing so Kaid and Cody decided to go to the gas station. On the way to the gas station Kaid had fallen asleep in the passenger seat. Cody was extremely exhausted and started to fall asleep. He caught himself and woke up the first few times. The next time, he just couldn't stay awake. Cody closed his eyes and loosened his grip on the wheel. By the time he realized what he had done they were already darting off of the road and into a sign. When they went through the sign the car had already rolled over three times and turned into a lump of useless metal. They finally stopped only twenty feet away from one of the biggest oak trees I have ever seen.
    

Kaid was awake a few minutes after the car had stopped and didn't realize what had happened. Soon he had come to the realization that Cody was unconscious and he needed to get out of the car and flag down help. Kaid saw a smashed window in the back seat and crawled out of it. He walked onto the street waving his hands in the air. Lucky enough three off duty police officers were driving by and saw him and immediately called 911.
    

Kaid told one of the paramedics that they needed to call his mother and tell her what had happened. It was four in the morning when they called my mom. My mom answered the phone with a low toned voice, not knowing who was calling her, or why they were calling her. They said that they were sorry to inform her that her son had been in an incredibly horrible car crash and they needed her to go to the hospital immediately to sign papers saying that they could operate on Kaid. She tried to hold back the tears as she told them she’d come right away. After they hung up the phone she started hysterically crying as she woke up my dad. My mom then ran into my room and told me that my brother had been in a very horrific accident and we needed to go see him right away. After she told me, she continued into my sister's room to tell her about the tragedy. With tears in our eyes, my family quickly got into the car and sped to the hospital. When we finally reached the hospital my mom and dad signed the papers and we sat in the waiting room for about a half an hour. A doctor had came into the waiting room and informed us that we could go see my brother in the ICU. We followed him to the third floor in the hospital, room 176. The doctor opened the door and my mom took a deep breath and went in, my dad, sister, and me following. Cody’s mom was already in the room sitting in a chair off to the side of the room.   
    

Bloody, hurt, and dead. That's what my brother looked like when I saw him lying there, unconscious in the ICU (intensive care unit). When I first saw my brother a thousand thoughts started running through my mind. Was he going to be ok? When will he come home? Will there be long term effects? After I had ran a thousand thoughts through my brain, I looked over at the next bed; it was Cody laying on the bed, looking at all of us gathered around my brother’s bed crying. I walked over to him and wanted to scream at him. I wanted to tell him all of the pain he had caused, how many lives he has affected, and how horrible he was for doing it. Instead of telling him that, I began balling as I hugged him. Cody then also began to cry and hugged me back and told me how sorry he was. The days I spent in the hospital talking to my brother were fun. We played board games and I told him what was going on in the family. He had many visitors and they all brought him food, balloons, and get-well cards. My brother was thankful for all of them, but he didn't really want all of the attention, he wanted to get out of the hospital as soon as possible and return to life as it was, before the crash. He wanted that very bad, but he knew life wouldn't be the same in our house after his near death experience.

The car crash changed my brother; he wasn’t as social, he didn’t know what to say to my mom when she talked to him, and he had a crazy amount of mood swings. My brother didn’t like to tell people about what happened that night, so whenever we talked I tried to come up with other subject. We didn’t speak as much after the crash though, all he wanted to do was sleep and he acted very depressed. My whole family was very worried about him and how he reacted to the crash. I tried to talk to him about it many times, but he’d shut me out everytime. One night I went to talk to him and he was crying; I asked him what was wrong and he just told me that he was sorry. He then said, “I’m sorry for being distant, for not being the brother you deserve, and for being so mean to Mom.” We then talked for hours about the crash and how he felt and why. After we were too tired to say anything else I went back to my room and went to bed. The next morning my brother, my mom, my sister, my dad, and me got up for school as usual and began to get ready. There was something different about my brother today; he was happier, more awake, and looked healthier. My dad drove us to school as usual and my brother got out at the high school and gave my sister and me a kiss on the cheek and said, “goodbye, have a good day.” My sister and I looked at each other in shock; he hadn’t been this happy since before the crash. My dad then dropped my sisters do me off at school after that. When I got home I saw that my brother was already there with his friend. I took a deep breath and walked in, not knowing if my brother was going to talk to me or not. His friend and him were in the kitchen eating and my brother looked at me, smiled and said, “hey”, in a very happy tone. I smiled at them both and walked up to my room. As I walked to my room I realized that I couldn’t stop smiling; I was so happy my brother was happy again and hanging out with friends. From the day forward Kaid was kind and wasn't as grumpy. My brother and me started talking a lot more about everything that happened. He would tell me what went on in school that day and how it was in the high school. When my brother would take me places he was very cautious and made sure that I always had my seatbelt on before he started driving. After the accident my brother and my relationship had changed, it was more precious to me. I realized that no one lives forever and you have to live in the moment. We had so much more fun when we hung out, we could talk for hours when we hung out and not get bored like before. Although our relationship was the same it was different, better, somehow lighter, and we could be more of ourselves. Of course my brother and I still fought, we’re siblings, and siblings fight. Everytime we fight it ends up with an I’m sorry and then we hug. My relationship with my brother is still good, even though I don’t see him a lot because he is usually at college or work.
     

Almost losing your sibling is one of the most difficult things that will ever happen to you, and overcoming it is even harder. I would know, I went through a first hand experience with that kind of tragedy. When I realized what had happened I started to reflect on all of the memories I had with him. The good and the bad, running through my mind all day and all night. It scared me, knowing how close he was to death and how it was by the grace of God that my brother lived to see another day. Family is possibly the best thing you will ever have in your life, I recommend that you don't take it for granted. You never know when something horrible could happen and then you'll be begging, pleading for God to give you one more day to spend with that beloved person.