Update on the Tragic Accident
Well, I still don’t have any official word, but I’m now certain that that young man died last night. As I drove home from work today, I passed the tree where the accident happened. There’s no bark on the tree from ground level to about three feet up, in a jagged semicircle exactly halfway around the tree. And in a recess of the roots is cradled a small bouquet of flowers. I can’t imagine anyone putting them there if the boy had lived.
I hugged my boys extra hard before I tucked them in tonight. We had the talk last night about drinking things or using things that make your mind not work right. My oldest (age 7) says he will never, ever drink alcohol. I told him it wasn’t wrong to drink, once you are a grown up, but it’s wrong to get behind the wheel if you’ve been drinking. And he replied, “But why would you want to drink something that might make you stupid, Mom?” And, you know, I really cannot answer that.
Tags: car accident, children, drunk driving, parenting, single parenting, True Stories, wreck
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6 Comments
Editormum, coming upon accidents rips me up. My first was when I was just twenty and the only one there, in Mexico. A father and his three sons inside a VW Bug, hit and run by a huge truck. Turning the engine off while the father’s head spun witlessly in circles and he was not really there, was difficult, getting past his bulk to get to the key, while his foot pressed and let off and pressed and let off the gas pedal, everything crushed. Babies all over the floors and in the front window. The babies survived, three, two and one year old. But, it wasn’t a sure thing that day.
The truck driver had been drunk, I saw him all over the road and then shouted ‘no’ when I watched the VW coming and the truck running the stop sign.
It still haunts me and I thoroughly dislike the unnecessary loss of life due to alcohol. There is much of this in my state, my city. So easy to take keys, to hand over keys, to hide keys, to say something and stop them from driving. I am so sorry that you have this picture in your mind and heart.
Sounds like you did well. I’m not sure what to tell you about coping with it. After a while, they aren’t so stand out special events because you end up going to so many. You can remember them but they don’t occupy your mind like the first few.
Thanks, Sarge. I’m doing a bit better. I don’t see that little patch of skin and that curly head every time I close my eyes now. But the horrible waste still bothers me.
On the one hand everyone makes choices all the time, and everyone has to live (or die) with the consequences of those choices. On the other hand, a tragedy like this pulls so many more people into its maw.
Kids do ask the toughest questions!
Very sad. Maybe your kids learned something that will someday save their lives though. Stuff like this sticks with kids for a long time.
Out of the Mouths of Babes! Your son put it very well. “Why would some one want to drink something that makes them do something stupid?” Drinking in moderation is acceptable and responsible, such as a glass of wine with a nice dinner. Just stay at home.