Yesterday, Tuesday, our small school community lost a 16 year old junior in high school in a single car crash. It happened just after school. My heart is breaking for her family. I cannot seem to think about anything else. Tessa knew this girl from school. She was smart and happy. Now her family must deal with her loss. It sounds like an accident that can most likely be explained by a little too much speed and not enough driving experience. It is every parents’ nightmare. I will not name her because her name has not yet been released by the news outlets. Today, she is everyone’s daughter. She is the fear we carry in out chest from the moment we first hold our children after they are born or adopted. It comes with the realization that we are responsible for this person. And we love them. We love them more than anything we could have imagined before having children. With love comes fear. Fear of what could happen to them as we allow them more and more freedom to make their own way in this world.
I ache for this family. I pray for this family. School today will be difficult for the kids in our small high school. Hug your kids today. Smell their heads like we did when they were babies. And be thankful that they are here to hug. And please send up a prayer and some strength to the family in our community that has to face the unimaginable. Today, that is all.
Please be assured of all our prayers for this child and for her parents. There are no words they can help in any way in A Moment Like This. All you can do is pray for them and to walk with them in their pain, a pain that will last forever. I am so sorry to hear this news. I pray for all the children of the high school as they grieve the loss of their friend. Peace and all good, Brother Ed, OFM
Spot on 🙁
I remember losing someone in high school, I hadn’t been close to her in many years, but I can still remember playing at her home when we were in elementary school. hers was due to alcohol, driving, and while she was in the backseat she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt. It was pointless and heartbreaking and my deepest sympathy goes out to her family and friends.
Stories like this makes me sure to both make sure to savor every moment, as well as explain to our daughter why we are overprotective and worried.