what one incident, or more accurately accident, in your life, changed your life forever? deciding to hitchhike to the great went, then to boston, after "quitting" school. perhaps that in and of itself was not an accident, but definitely the car that i got into was a pleasant accident of faith. my experience doing this would have been completely different had i gotten nto any other car. i started out, a scared little girl with a friend i had just met, not knowing how i was going to go about doing this, with only $70 and a dream of escape. our job was made easy when a van just stopped us and asked if we had gas $$. we did, and got in. there were three boys, a girl and two dogs. though i wasn't yet a die-hard phan (i had just seen my first show) and didn't look the part of the tour hippie, they welcomed me with open arms. later on, as we were driving i started to think about my place in life and for the first time ever, i didn't have that feeling that i was doing everything all wrong. and that was a crazy feeling for me. i couldn't believe that there was ever a time when i had lived with anything other than this feeling. for the first time in my life, i knew what freedom was. i don't know that many people know what this feeling is like. and that makes me sad, and in a way, really frustrated. i mean, i'm not saying that at this point in my life i can be feeling this way all the time. but i know that this possibility exists. and knowing that this possibility exists is what gets me out of bed in the mornings, the reason that i can go on living; the thought and belief that one day, i will wake up and that feeling will never go away; that i can somehow teach the whole world to feel like this. this is my prayer for the kids in that van. i don't even remember all of your names. i'm shy and i didn't talk all that much when i was with you. you took me in and believed in me, not knowing who i was. you showed me the path to extacy. you showed me the path to freedom. you taught me trust and faith. you've forever changed my life. you gave me a reason to live. you helped me find god in the changing scenery of the open road. you taught me that friends are everywhere. you even loaned me money to get into the show, with only my promise that i would pay you back (i later saw the guy that gave me money, i think his name was mike, at another show and repaid him). this is my homage to you. namaste. headtrip| no secrets| next| mail