Mason Ziegler Research Paper

Death. Everybody has been affected by it. Whether it’s a death of a loved one or a death you hear about on the news, it makes you stop and think. When I was 12 years old my brother and I had a best friend. Mason was an amazing kid with a kind heart. He was closer in age to my brother, Cody, so by default I was just the annoying little sister to them. On August 9th 2012, I watched Mason Ziegler die. I was young but looking back on things today I see how much one thing has had an effect on EVERYTHING in my life.

In our world there are sunny days, rainy days, even storms. Not everything in life can be amazing, there are good, bad, and terrible memories handed to us to deal with and get through on our own. Looking back at our life it seems as

Mason was mid air as Cody started yelling and waving his arms trying to signal him not to go. In a split second there was a bang and everything stopped. It felt as though life was in slow motion. I sat there frozen in panic, I was 12 with no idea where to even start processing what was happening. I looked around and saw a bike in pieces and a lifeless body— my best friend. I caught Cody's eye across the mess and I knew he was processing everything at the same speed I was. As soon as reality set in I rushed for my phone just to look and see NO SERVICE at the top of my screen. I rushed over to Mason to see if he was breathing and see if everything was going to be ok. As I realized he’s not breathing I looked up to see my big brother riding away to get service or notify someone I assumed. A male figure walked up to me with a panicked look written all over his face, he begins trying to comfort me and ask questions. By then there was a crowd gathering. I hear many helpful people trying to get Mason medical attention— one brave man even tries CPR— while another woman sneers “Where are these kids parents”. That is when I broke. I lost it, I knew my parents had been reluctant to allow us to ride alone— I was losing our best friend and I was alone and scared. I was bawling my eyes out as a man in his 40’s carried me away, kicking and screaming. Everything

We all knew it was over though, as we packed up and headed to Port Angeles the next day. We went there to spend time with Mason’s family as everyone tried to process the happenings of the day before. The next few weeks were hard. Planning a celebration of life is one of the hardest things I’ve had to witness family members do. As months went by and life began going back to a normal routine I moved in with my aunt so I could visit Mason’s mother— Tami— everyday. She was a hair stylist. I looked up to her in hopes that one day I would be as great as her. She was a role model to me. I spent every day watching her cut and style people's hair as she always told me Mason would and soon I began to actually enjoy her career along with her presence. My whole life I had never been the typical little kid with a dream job, but as I approached 13 I knew this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to follow in her footsteps and pursue a career in cosmetology. Tami began to see my passion, she bought me a manikin head and told me to practice on the fake hair. Tami helped me find my passion. I practiced everyday by her side. I began to love the feeling of the hair running through my fingers and I loved the way she made me feel when she practiced new techniques on me. I knew that Tami Ziegler had just introduced me to what I wanted to do in