I've witnessed the passing of my grandfather(89 years), my grandma (75 years), and an aunt(52 years(suicide)). None of these events compared to what I went through my junior year of high school. It was the first week of school and common sense and a level head gave way to youthful exuberance and a few of my friends decided to race a local 3kgt after the first football game of the year. Four of my friends were in a 92 iroc with a few mods, the opponent was in his 3kgt sl. I was in my mercury sable (car I had been given when I got my license) my other friend was in his lifted gmc1500. We went to the local office parks which had a nice wide straight long road. The racing participants lined up while my friend flagged the race. They went and I followed... and followed... and followed. The race seemed like forever and was pretty close. The end of the street began to approach, first slowly, then much much faster. I started to say to myself "stop stop STOP STOP STOP STOP!!!!!!!" it didn't happen. My friend finally braked and locked them up. The car went sideways, slid across an intersection and broadsided a tree. I knew at that moment that this was a life and death situation. I pulled up and parked ran out of my car, my friend in the sierra pulled up and immediately drove off as fast as he could in the direction of a phone/emergency service as none of us had cells at the time. I approached the mangled wreck of a turdgen. it was the most horrible thing I had ever seen. Chris was still behind the wheel, bleeding from the head and unconscious. My friend since first grade Richie was no longer in the car but about 10 feet away, he was conscious but in very critical condition. He had been thrown out of the window and his abdomen was sliced open on his side... he was in bad condition. Mike was in between the back seat and the front seat. He was perfectly still and not breathing regularly. The last passenger was sitting,in the passenger seat, calm, and in terrible shock. I went over to rich and held him in my arms, his last words were "i'm sorry". I lost three great friends that night, none of them were wearing seat belts, the only survivor was wearing one. Having to attend the funerals of three of your best friends in two days is possibly the worst thing i've ever had to do.
http://www.sunnews.com/news/1999/0902/scoping.htm article from the time.
Alex, I and unfortunately many people have gone through the same thing and it is tragic. Nobody should die that young ever. It's a hard thing to live through, especially at this stage in life. Unfortunately I don't have much in teh way of advice to get through it. It's tough no matter how you approach it. However, this is a time when you need to be close with your friends, and close with your family. While you may think that you're dealing with it alright you may also find yourself really depressed and withdrawn, and that's when you need your friends. Good luck and best wishes.
-Mark