My little 7 year old girl, Allison, went outside to play on the Saturday, the 21st of June in the year before last, just like any other girl would do on a pleasant summer day.  It felt like a normal sunny and dry summer day just like any other day in Tallahassee, Florida.  I was working on an oil change on my Chevy Cobalt that day in the driveway in front of our home.  The outside of the house had a deep teal color, with large windows.  The wooden door that was stained light brown gleamed in the sunlight and the porch had a white bench that rocked back in forth.  It reminded me every day about the times that I sat there with Allison talking about all of the birds, flowers, and the trees that were like standing giants in our yard.  My wife, Rachel was inside doing some house cleaning, and she just got back from getting groceries for supper and the fellowship dinner at our local church the next day, too.  When I looked over at my daughter, she was swinging on the swings with a light pink flower in her hand that she had picked from the flowerbed across the driveway to my right. 
After working on my car for at least a half an hour, my wife brought out lemonade for me, and walked over to her to give Allison a kiss on her smiling face. 
She said, “That is a beautiful flower you got their Allison.”  “Do you want to pick some more flowers and put them in a vase in the kitchen?”
“Yes! Mom can we pick the pretty red roses, too?” 
Then Rachel smiled, and nodded her head uttering the words, “Of course we can pick the beautiful red roses.” 
Allison was proudly picking flowers with her mom for quite a while as I was enjoying the fine weather, and watching the Blue Jays fly around near the apple tree in the front of our yard near the shed that I built about 5 or 6 years ago. 
“Those flowers look wonderful, Allison!” 
They went inside and put the flowers in a vase in the kitchen, and then Allison came back outside.
“Can I ride my new bike that you got me for my birthday last month, Daddy?”
“Of course you can honey.”
I will never forget the grin of excitement on her face that day when she was able to ride her new bike. 
As I was finishing up the oil change, I glanced over to my left, and I saw her riding on the sidewalk near the road and I shouted, “You are doing really well, Allison!  Do you like your new bike?”
“It is the best bike ever Daddy!” she yelled with excitement.
I was very proud of her because she didn’t even need training wheels.  At that time, I started to put my tools away in my old red tool box that had a profound smell of rust and old metal.  Then I grabbed some towels to wipe the oil off of my hands as I walked over to the garbage to throw the dirty towels away.  I had forgotten about Allison as I walked over to the bucket of used oil that smelled like burnt food mixed with rubber.  I poured all of the used oil in an old motor oil container to be thrown away in the garbage.
As I walked to the garbage with the used oil, I looked up at the clouds, and noticed that there were some dark clouds moving towards us from the horizon on my right.  I noticed that it might rain soon, so I hurried up to throw the oil away, and finish the rest of my work that day.
  As I walked back to my car, I heard my daughter scream the words, “Daddy!”  I also heard the sound of breaks being used, and I quickly looked behind me to my right, and then to my left, and I saw her laying on the ground near her bike that was completely destroyed.
“Allison! I quickly yelled in terror. 
I kneeled on the ground beside her as I felt like the entire world had stopped, and I called 911 as soon as I could.  My heart was pounding in my chest so hard that I could feel each beat in my chest.  I quickly run inside to my wife to tell her that Allison had been hit by car while she was riding her bike.
My wife quickly ran out to the scene with me, and we both started to cry as we held her in our arms.  The only thing that I thought of doing was to pray for her.  It felt like I was stabbed in the chest by a knife.  The pain that I felt was unbearable because my only child looked like she was dead.  All of my other worries, and cares went away at that moment.  The only thing that mattered to my wife and I was if our daughter was going to live.  I have never been so worried over something in my life.  As I knelt there with my wife in tears, I kept saying the words, “I love you Allison.  Please help her to live, God.”
“Rachel, the ambulance is here!”
She quickly ran to the truck and told them what happened.  As the first responders came to the scene, I stood back and thought about all of the memories of Allison, like the one when we went to the South Park Zoo in Orlando, Florida when she was looking at all of the cute animals.  I kept thinking about her smile, and wished that I can see it again.  Then my wondering brain quickly awakened to reality.  The first responders started to do CPR on her.  All I wanted at that moment was for Allison to live.  I kept hugging my wife, and we were in tears as we prayed for her to live. 
Then one of the men on the team of first responders came up to me as I stood up to my feet, worrying about the answer that he was going to give me. 
“I am sorry about the accident.  We have to bring her to the emergency room, and we will do everything that we can possibly do for her.”
  I dropped down to my knees in sorrow as I look over at my wife who is crying, and I glance over at my daughter one more time.
“Please don’t let my only child die God!” 
Emotions quickly flooded my mind as it felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest.  Then it started to rain, and the raindrops dripped down my face.  I smelled the fresh air, and looked at my wife in despair.  She said, “Dave, take some deep breaths.”
“Rachel, what are we going to do now?” 
She didn’t answer me.  It was the gloomiest day of my life.  I never thought that something like this would ever happen to me.
When I got to the hospital as fast as I could, I ran into the emergency room with my wife.  I watch at the window as Allison was Getting CPR again, and then I heard a lot of chaos in the room.  I knew right away what the doctor was going to say to me as he came out of the room, and walked towards my wife and I. 
Sadly he said, “We did everything that we could do to revive her, but I’m very sorry to tell you that she is gone.” 
“No!  Please don’t tell me that!”
I hugged my wife as hard as I could, and she was screaming in disappointment that our only child died.  It felt like a train ran into my brain.  It felt like my whole life just stopped at that exact moment.  It was a terrible feeling that I had never felt before. 
When I was sitting in the chairs outside the emergency room, I cherished and thought of all of the incredible memories that we had together from when she was born until when she was riding bike that day.  All of a sudden, I had an enormous feeling of guilt flow into my heart.
“I regret telling her to ride bike.   It’s all my fault.  I am sorry Rachel.”
Then the doctor rushed out of the room to tell us that she is alive, and we came in to hold her hand.  I held it as tight as I could.  A feeling of hope went through my head at that moment.
“I love you honey.  I am so sorry, Allison.” 
6 weeks later, she finally came home, but needed a wheelchair for a while. 
Then she said, “Daddy, I saw heaven.”  She said in amazement.
“You did?  What did you see honey?” 
She said, “It was beautiful, and I saw flowers Mommy.”
I was astounded at the fact that my daughter went to heaven that day.
Rachel said, “You are a special person now, Allison.  You can tell us all about it after we put your wheelchair together.