"Ashlyn Gardner" by Melissa D

Recently, on December 4, 2013 a little girl named Ashlyn Gardner

shockingly passed away. She was a 3rd grade student who attended

Etiwanda Colony elementary school. What happened to her and her

younger brother affected me, and made me think a lot about different things.

Many people who live in and around the area know of this tragic event. It

was even on the channel 5 news. Ashlyn was on her way home from school

with her little brother. They were crossing the intersection at Banyan and

East Avenue, and while crossing the street in the cross walk, they both had

been hit by a pickup truck while in the intersection. Immediately after being

struck they both got treated by paramedics. After all that happened, her

brother thankfully was not injured severely. He was transported to the

hospital, as well as his sister and was released the next day with minor

injuries. Tragically, because of Ashlyn’s severe injuries she died that

Wednesday evening.

I heard more details later when I got home that day. It was around

9:00 PM when my brothers and I were getting ready for bed, and my parents

were watching TV. My dad called my brothers and I to gather with him and

my mom. He played a recorded message that was sent to Etiwanda Colony

and Summit Intermediate schools. One of my brothers attends Colony, and

the other attends Summit. When I heard the boy was going to leave from the

hospital, because he was fine, it made me so happy and relieved. Then when

I heard that the little girl had died, it really hurt me. My family and I got

emotional and saddened. Death can be very emotional for anyone, even if

they didn’t know the person. Also, knowing she was so young and having

her whole like ahead of her made it even worse. I can’t imagine what her

family and friends are going through. My younger brother Jonathan is in 4th

grade, and only 1 year older, and we can’t imagine anything ever happening

to him. We would be devastated. I had viewed the scene of the accident

while on the bus on my way home from school. Traffic in the area was

moving really slow, and everyone was stopping and trying to figure out

what was happening. I felt worried, because I did not know what happened,

and I wanted to know. Then I saw someone lying on the street, but I

couldn’t tell who it was. There were so many cars, emergency vehicles, and

many people. When I got home, right away I told my parents what I saw,

but they already knew from my younger brothers that a little girl and boy

both got hit by a car. It made me cry, because it really hurt me, and I could

not believe it.

Because of what happened, I realized and gave it much thought, we

can not take our life for granted. We need to cherish every single bit of it,

because we never know when it could end. We also need to cherish the

people we love in our lives, because we never know when they can be taken

away from us. At any time someone we love can be gone, and for me it’s

scary to think about. If it does happen we need to stay strong, and hopefully

we have family and friends who will encourage us to get through it. I really

wish in someway I could’ve gotten to know her, or met her. She seems like

one of the sweetest girls someone could ever know. Like many others who

did not know her, I feel so heartbroken, and sorry for her family and friends.

Also, for the man who hit her, I pray for him, because he now has to live

with such a bad incident. I didn’t even know Ashlyn, but it effects me like if

I did. I hope her family and friends will all get through this, and know that

she is in a better place. I am hoping if they realize this, it will give them

some peace.