A child died the other day. I didn't know him...I had seen him once or twice, but I never talked to him. I never found out how bright he was, or how polite. I never ruffled his hair or teased him as adults do to children to make them laugh. I passed him in the cafeteria when he was with his mother. He was cute--13 and gangly--all legs and elbows. He wore a baseball cap that his mother made him take off when they sat down to eat. He prayed before they ate and his mother watched him and smiled. He had his mother's blonde hair and blue eyes. His skin was tan and I found out after he died that he played baseball and soccer.
So how did he die? He died in a car accident. He died because another child made a bad decision. A senseless, impulsive, decision to take a car, go joyriding and speed. The driver lost control of the car and it went left of center, hit a bridge with such force that it split in two and both pieces of the vehicle went into a canal. This child couldn't get out of his seat belt and he died in 7 feet of water. The driver walked away relatively unharmed.
When we heard what happened, we all walked around saying that the same thing could have happened in our family and that makes me afraid. We treasure our grandchildren as I am sure this child was treasured. But, his parents couldn't save him, his religious education couldn't save him, his achievements in school and as an athlete couldn't save him. His life was over in a few tragic, fearful minutes--all because of someone else's bad decision. I hope that children and teenagers in this area learn something from this. It's in the newspapers and on the TV news. I hope they see that being cool can change your life forever.
A child died the other day. I didn't know him. I wish now that I did.
