Thursday July 16, 2026 | Write a memory you associate with a car.
I remember a time when my grandma and I were on our way to pick up my sister and aunt from school. I ran out of the house to her car, shouting, “I’ll drive, Granmaw!” She’s told me that story countless times. I wish I knew what happened to me when I developed selective mutism. I think I was speaking a little when I was 2 or 3 years old. In June 1992, I was in a car accident. All I saw coming toward my dad’s van was a big yellow Penske moving truck. I tumbled inside the van and ended up the most injured, with a ruptured spleen. I still have nightmares about it to this day. I haven’t woken up screaming in a while, but I will tell you when it happens again. Could my waking up screaming be from that accident? Could it be trauma related, or anxiety related or is it normal?