I wrote this and posted this to Facebook because I have alot of my daughter's friends on there....I feel that every life story is worth learning from so by all means if there is a teenager in your life share my story with them. It may cause them to think and may save their life.
To the class of 2012
Read my story….keep it with you. First, I can’t believe you guys are seniors….every parent that reads this can recall 12 years ago when we were putting you in kindergarten. To us, it feels like yesterday. As you enter your SENIOR year, (hellyea) I want you to think about something……. your safety. I thought that maybe my story would help you. When I was 19 years old, my brother was killed in a car accident…..drinking and driving….Let it be said that my brother was the coolest guy, he was a friend to everyone. I have trusted my life in his hands many times. But one night, he made one bad call and it cost him his life. Now you are thinking-oh that’s awful, sad. But I want to tell you the side of the story that no one ever gets to hear. At 1 a.m. the phone rang, it was my bro’s best friend. He had a sick voice, but I was 19 and half asleep so I thought nothing of it. He asked me to get up and go to my brother’s room to see if he was in bed. I did, NOPE, his bed was still made. I can still hear his sad voice saying…ok…Lori…thanks….(he had already heard about the accident and hoped it wasn’t true). I went back to bed. At 5 a.m. I heard the loud thumps on the back door. To this day I fight hearing them at night when it is quiet. At times I feel them as if someone is thumping on my chest. It was the coroner and 2 police officers. I met my mom at the door. Pulled back the curtain, and there I felt it for the first time, the sick gut of tragedy. I backed away bc my gut told me what was happening. YOUR GUT NEVER LIES. My mom, confused, said, LORI answer the door. I did. They handed me a clear plastic bag with all my brother’s belongings in it. They said to my mom, “Maam there has been an accident.” My mom instinctively said, “Is Jeff ok?”, and the man said, “I am sorry maam, it was a fatal accident.” I can still here my mom’s scream, and my heart races as I even type this story. My Dad came out and said, “What do we do?” and the man said call your funeral director, I remember my dad saying, “We don’t have a funeral director.” There it happened, our family’s life changed forever. You cannot even begin to imagine the sobs of my parents. Try to picture your parents. It does something to you to see your parents like that. My brother would have never wanted to hurt them like that. Hours later, I went into his bedroom. The wet towel lay in his floor from his last shower. But he was gone. He had already slipped into eternity. His dirty clothes were still in the hamper. But he would never wear them again. GONE. All because of one choice. Did you know that someone has to pick out your casket, and the clothes for you to wear in it? It was HELL delivering his outfit and doing all the business that has to be done to finish a life that ended too soon.
So I am asking you to think. I am asking you not to drink and drive. I am asking you not to get in the car with anyone that has had anything to drink (or anything else). I would love to believe that you are all angels and do no wrong. But I am not nearly that naïve, and it wouldn’t be smart to be. Every time you go partying, think of my story. Call someone to pick you up, or STAY WHERE YOU ARE. It would be better to piss your parents off, than to put them through what mine went through. Don’t get me wrong, this is not an endorsement for partying. It is simply me saying in my best Red Foreman voice, that if you are gonna party, get your head out of your asses and have a plan in place.
And remember, you guys can’t get by with crap from the law nowadays. You can ruin your future and not to mention your money making potential with a felony. My generation rode four wheelers, (ok-3wheelers too) on the streets…We outran cops, we fought, we vandalized, we broke curfew and we got by with it. You guys aren’t nearly as lucky. You will end up in juvy or jail or both and with a criminal record. If you so much as moon someone, you will be a registered sex offender and no one will hire you. I am so sorry that lines have gotten this skewed, but they have. REMEMBER IT. It sucks, but it is forreal. Don’t be thinking we had it TOO great, you guys have cell phones, texting and internet-we didn’t. DON’T RUIN YOUR FUTURE. AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE MAKING SAFE DECISIONS SO THAT YOU HAVE ONE.
To the class of 2012
Read my story….keep it with you. First, I can’t believe you guys are seniors….every parent that reads this can recall 12 years ago when we were putting you in kindergarten. To us, it feels like yesterday. As you enter your SENIOR year, (hellyea) I want you to think about something……. your safety. I thought that maybe my story would help you. When I was 19 years old, my brother was killed in a car accident…..drinking and driving….Let it be said that my brother was the coolest guy, he was a friend to everyone. I have trusted my life in his hands many times. But one night, he made one bad call and it cost him his life. Now you are thinking-oh that’s awful, sad. But I want to tell you the side of the story that no one ever gets to hear. At 1 a.m. the phone rang, it was my bro’s best friend. He had a sick voice, but I was 19 and half asleep so I thought nothing of it. He asked me to get up and go to my brother’s room to see if he was in bed. I did, NOPE, his bed was still made. I can still hear his sad voice saying…ok…Lori…thanks….(he had already heard about the accident and hoped it wasn’t true). I went back to bed. At 5 a.m. I heard the loud thumps on the back door. To this day I fight hearing them at night when it is quiet. At times I feel them as if someone is thumping on my chest. It was the coroner and 2 police officers. I met my mom at the door. Pulled back the curtain, and there I felt it for the first time, the sick gut of tragedy. I backed away bc my gut told me what was happening. YOUR GUT NEVER LIES. My mom, confused, said, LORI answer the door. I did. They handed me a clear plastic bag with all my brother’s belongings in it. They said to my mom, “Maam there has been an accident.” My mom instinctively said, “Is Jeff ok?”, and the man said, “I am sorry maam, it was a fatal accident.” I can still here my mom’s scream, and my heart races as I even type this story. My Dad came out and said, “What do we do?” and the man said call your funeral director, I remember my dad saying, “We don’t have a funeral director.” There it happened, our family’s life changed forever. You cannot even begin to imagine the sobs of my parents. Try to picture your parents. It does something to you to see your parents like that. My brother would have never wanted to hurt them like that. Hours later, I went into his bedroom. The wet towel lay in his floor from his last shower. But he was gone. He had already slipped into eternity. His dirty clothes were still in the hamper. But he would never wear them again. GONE. All because of one choice. Did you know that someone has to pick out your casket, and the clothes for you to wear in it? It was HELL delivering his outfit and doing all the business that has to be done to finish a life that ended too soon.
So I am asking you to think. I am asking you not to drink and drive. I am asking you not to get in the car with anyone that has had anything to drink (or anything else). I would love to believe that you are all angels and do no wrong. But I am not nearly that naïve, and it wouldn’t be smart to be. Every time you go partying, think of my story. Call someone to pick you up, or STAY WHERE YOU ARE. It would be better to piss your parents off, than to put them through what mine went through. Don’t get me wrong, this is not an endorsement for partying. It is simply me saying in my best Red Foreman voice, that if you are gonna party, get your head out of your asses and have a plan in place.
And remember, you guys can’t get by with crap from the law nowadays. You can ruin your future and not to mention your money making potential with a felony. My generation rode four wheelers, (ok-3wheelers too) on the streets…We outran cops, we fought, we vandalized, we broke curfew and we got by with it. You guys aren’t nearly as lucky. You will end up in juvy or jail or both and with a criminal record. If you so much as moon someone, you will be a registered sex offender and no one will hire you. I am so sorry that lines have gotten this skewed, but they have. REMEMBER IT. It sucks, but it is forreal. Don’t be thinking we had it TOO great, you guys have cell phones, texting and internet-we didn’t. DON’T RUIN YOUR FUTURE. AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE MAKING SAFE DECISIONS SO THAT YOU HAVE ONE.
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