Savannah Ferguson (Flowing Wells High) If I had known this day would be the last day to see my friends in a school setting I would’ve changed everything about that day.
I woke up early; I always do on game days. We had heard Mountain View had suspended their season until April 10th. I never thought I’d be in their shoes, so I threw on my grey nike sweatpants and my sweatshirt. This outfit is a game day must.
I drove my brother to school and upon arriving at Flowing Wells High School I heard our board members would be discussing our fate in a board meeting. I prayed that day and I’m not entirely religious. I prayed that that day March 13, 2020 would not be my last day of high school softball. I went through the day like I would see everyone that following Monday.
When I walked into the dugout for my unproclaimed senior night there were jokes about how we were a public school and that meant making sure we were fulfilling every last school day until graduation. Little did we know in just two short hours after that game our lives would change and we would be left clinging to our dirty uniforms we had worn for the last time.
The word spread quickly that the game between Douglas and Flowing Wells would most likely be the seniors last game. I played my heart out that game and put everything I had left into it. If this was going to be my last game I’d make sure no one would forget it.
The stadium was full of those wishing to support us in our last endeavour. They say you die twice, the first time they put you in the ground and the last time someone says your name. That day I wanted no one to forget my name.
The bottom of the 5th inning was the beginning of the end of my high school career. It started to pour rain. I was about to go on deck and immediately I looked at my best friend and lost every emotion I could keep in. I knew this would be it and I had to walk away from everything. I sat there in her arms and cried with the other seniors receiving condolences from our teammates who had no idea everything we just lost.
After my coach managed to coax me out of the dugout I found out the news that recruiting had also been stopped and school was canceled. This news completely shattered my world because I am not committed yet and I felt as if I was losing all of my control and there was nothing I could do but just watch the last bits of dust wash off my uniform.
I sat at the field and cried for about two hours after the game and when I finally left, I left the legacy and hard work I put into the program and traded them for the memories I had made with my girls since freshman year, but what continues to pry at me day in and day out is the memories that could’ve been.
My life became a series of “What about”s. What about my senior night. What about my graduation. What about my friends. What about my future. What about my family. Some of these questions I still have no answers for and that is confusing and hard for me to understand. I wake up most days with an empty feeling of not having closure with people that or things that I would’ve gotten in a traditional senior year.
People always say well people have it worse, but this is my worst I don’t know about other people but I do know that this hurt was like no other.
March 13, 2020, forever imprinted in my mind not with words, but with memories. This experience has taught me to never take anything for granted because you could lose it in an instant and be stuck watching the last bits of dust wash off your uniform.
