Our small town had a tragedy happen yesterday. One of the middle kid's classmates was killed in a car accident yesterday afternoon just a couple of miles from her home.
She turned left in front of a dump truck. She was only 17. She died instantly.
Although I recognized the girl's name, I didn't know this girl. My daughters know her and her family lives just two doors down from one of their best friends from soccer. In a town our size, everyone has a connection to this family.
As I held my crying daughter yesterday, all I could think about is how fragile all of this is. We just never know. Everything can change in an instant. So often we get caught up in our routines and our responsibilities that we forget that.
We forget to hug a little longer. We forget to say I love you. Tragedies like this one remind us to slow down and take more time with those we love.
I know I did last night.
2 comments:
Even if she wasn't close to the girl, she'll probably remember this the rest of her life. When I was 11, six seniors from my high school area were in a horrific crash with a dump truck when they ran a red light and the dump truck hadn't slowed down because the light had changed in its favor. Three kids died, the others were badly injured. One of the deaths and 2 bad injuries (siblings) lived within 100 feet of my home.
That was years and years ago, yet anyone who lived in the neighborhood at the time or attended the high school at the time still recalls it.
Max, for example, attended that school at the time. He didn't know a single kid personally, yet he and I occasionally talk about the crash as a shared memory -- all these years later.
My sympathies to your daughter. I'm sorry for her loss.
Thank you, Lisa.
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