My name is Jordyn Gresham, and when I was 15 years old, I was in a total car accident with my older sister. My family (me, Mom, and my sister) was moving to Saint Louis, MO from Alabaster, AL. We hadn’t gotten everything set to move until 7 pm that night. Kylah, my sister, was tired and had been crying profusely due to having to leave her partner there and simply not wanting to move. She offered me to drive the first leg. I was a permitted driver, and I had held my permit for about a year at this time. It was okay with Mom, so we hit the road. I was supposed to drive only the first 3 hours, then switch with Kylah, but she fell asleep, and I ended up driving longer than planned. Around 10 or 11 at night, I dozed off and drifted off the interstate in Kentucky while the car was on cruise control at 78 to keep up with my mom in front. Of course, the unsteadiness of going off the road woke me up, and I tried to break, but it didn’t work. I’m not sure if we were going too fast or if the grass was wet, but we collided with a large tree. I was knocked out on impact and later learned that Kylah died instantly. When I woke up, I panicked amidst the deployed airbags and confusion. I got out of the car but couldn't walk, screaming for my sister, unaware she was gone. I removed the front left tooth as it had been knocked out by the airbag and was preventing me from pronouncing Kylah’s name. My lip had been severely busted as well. The hood of the car was in flames. Unfortunately, I remember all of this. I understood that I would have to move away from the car or I would die. I crawled toward the car trunk and soon heard my mom calling for me. When we made contact, I collapsed, and she had to drag me out of the woods. Bystanders tried to help find Kylah, but the car exploded before we could leave. I was airlifted to Indiana and spent a week in the ICU while my mom planned a funeral. Only a few days after my clearance from the hospital, I was attending a funeral. My neck and ankle were fractured, my heel bone was shattered, I had a brain bleed, a concussion, and a huge busted lip. I spent the next few months losing myself in grief that I had no clue was headed my way. I had severe survivor’s guilt and often blamed myself for the death of my sister. I, sometimes, found myself staying up over 12 hours because I would dream of her so often. The dreams felt too real and it began to hurt to wake up and find that it wasn’t real. On the bright side of things, me and Mom got so close. We found comfort in each other after we lost someone who meant so much to us but in a different way. In the last few years, I’ve grown to be a little more functional with the weight in my chest. I’ve learned how to handle my emotions and big girl decisions without being able to ask my big sister. I’ve learned that I have to keep going FOR my big sister. I do know that I’ll never forget my sister, though. I wait patiently for the day we meet again.

If I could start a business with my deceased sibling, it would be a shop like Hot Topic or Spencers'. It would be more of an anime merch/manga/book store. I would choose this because my sister, Kylah, really enjoys anime and manga. While I was not able to get a foothold in to that culture, I have always been an avid reader so we are alike in that way. Kylah had years of experience in the retail industry, so she would be able to navigate the store well. Although we had different hobbies and interests, we would have dominated in that industry. I'm amazing with numbers and I have a better understanding of financial aspects, as well. She would know what would be the best merch to supply the store with and how to engage the customers. I did not begin working until after her passing, so I did not learn my cashier skills until recently. I would be better help there or in customer service or stocking. I believe we would move to a busier, urban area because business could have great potential in that environment. We always planned to live together. It would be cool if we incorporated some type of lounge area for people to be able to sit and relax with the books, whether they decide to buy them or not. The ideal location would be next to a beverage or snack shop so that people could enjoy that as well. We often went to Books-A-Million which was connected to a Yogurt Mountain and I remember how much we and others enjoyed that experience. Kylah always dreamed of starting a business, so this plan had been talked about before. I enjoyed being able to write it out and develop more on the plan that has stopped since her passing. Maybe one day when I'm out of nursing school, I'll be able to start the business in her memory.