I Wished It Had Been Me

Last January, I was sentenced to serve 180 days in a county jail on a reckless homicide charge. In June 1999, I was driving my truck down the wrong lane in a blackout and ran the oncoming car off the road. The car went into the ditch, hit a culvert, and flipped over. The passenger in the car was killed. I had no idea what had happened. The paramedics and police found me passed out in my truck. When I was finally roused by a police officer, I saw a tow truck pulling away with a car hanging off the back. I was totally confused. I felt as if I'd just woken up in the middle of a bad dream, and it wasn't long before the dream turned into a nightmare: I was told that I had caused the car on the back of that tow truck to wreck and that the passenger had been killed. I immediately wanted to be sucked up by the earth and disappear forever.