Hi, my name is Jen, and I am 18 years old. My youngest sister Natalie and I were in a car accident on April 19. After 5 days in an intensive care unit at a wonderful hospital, Natalie was pronounced dead. I was the driver of the car, and Natalie was the only passenger. I had always made her wear a seatbelt, and sit in the backseat, as she was that day. I had my seatbelt off and was almost out of the car before it stopped that day. I only have a scar on my inner arm from the seatbelt. I couldn't get to Natalie, because the roof was so smashed down on her that the door couldn't be opened. I immediately took the cherry lollipop from her mouth, and called 911 from our cell phone. I explained to them what happened and within minutes several people stopped and tried to help. Natalie was passed out. I still remember what the last thing she said to me was. We had just come from my gram's and went to the post office, which is small and has a basket of lollipops there for people. She told me to get her one and surprise her with the flavor. I went in to get the mail, came out with it and two lollipops. I started to look through the mail and realized that I had to go back inside to get a package. I told Nat, that I had peach and cherry, that she could pick one first. While I ran back inside, she must have looked at them, which I expected. When I came back, she was sitting in the backseat, looking at them again. I put the mail on the front seat, and pulled out. A few minutes down the road, Natalie blurts out "Are you stupid or something?" I ask her why, only to hear her say that the one lollipop wasn't peach, but butterscotch. She then chose the cherry one and left me the peach/butterscotch. She put the lollipop in her mouth, and that was the last thing I heard her say. When I got out of the car, she still had it in there, so I removed it so she wouldn't choke on it. The next five days, she was in a coma, and we wern't able to tell if she heard us or not. I feel responsible for doing this to my parents and family, and of course Natalie. I ended her life before she had a chance to finish 3rd grade. She is missed very much by her sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-grandparents, and friends. I Love You Natalie!
Jen Harbst
