a sad local story

A co-worker and I have been discussing a tragedy that recently occurred here, where a young person was killed due to an auto accident. The teen-aged girl was thrown from the vehicle and died. The young man who was driving was sixteen years old, and has been charged with vehicular homicide as well as a number of other things, including underage drinking. I cannot even begin to imagine the heartache the parents of the young girl are learning to live with. And how angry they must be to discover that the boy was recently stopped - just a couple of weeks ago - for underage drinking. It's hard to know whether the alcohol or lack of wearing seat belts played a bigger part - and now probably a moot point.

It makes me sad for all the people involved:  a precious, beautiful life has ended, another life that has been impulsively ruined, and those families with tragic burdens for the rest of their lives. Time will dull this, but it will never, ever go away.

It also makes me thankful for my family: Parents and grandparents who were not consumers of alcohol. Thankful for having survived my own fool-hardy, impulsive youth. Thankful for grown, independent daughters who never got into situations of this type. As I think of bits of conversation we have had over recent months, and their thoughts on alcohol consumption, it is apparent to me they are well past problems with abuse. One thinks the 'empty calories' with no nutritional value not worth the drink, and rarely consumes. The other (even though they brew their own beer in the kitchen) says it is too expensive to become a habit. Whatever the rationalizations: this tells me that the desire is just not there...

The first time either of them consumed alcoholic beverages was when they were still in high school. We drove all night to get to Key West. After sleeping off the exhaustion of twelve hours of being in a car, we went to the Jimmy Buffet restaurant and ordered strawberry margaritas. I'm sure we ate, probably burgers, but nothing memorable.  I don't remember it being all that great, but how could we go all the way to Margaritaville ant not have one?

Travel posters and magazines with photos of white sands and clear water, palm trees and umbrellas, tropical environs make the 'idea' tempting.  Even though the islands do look like a small slice of paradise, when you think of how exposed they are to the elements, there is no temptation to relocate. The siren call of the south seas is not audible here...

I am so thankful for adult children who have not succumbed to the lure of alcohol. It really is a poor way to spend money, to say nothing of the heartache it causes.... And nothing good ever comes of consumption.