I arrived this Monday morning to open the warehouse bright and early, as I was going to turn the lights on, the telephone in my office rang. It was the wife of my warehouseman. She called to say that Terry won't be coming in, she was crying, he was killed in a car crash Saturday night and if we could please get her his check early so she could pay for his funeral. I was in shock, but I told her we would do everything we could for her (she will be getting his check today). Alcohol was involved in his death I found out later. I remember talking to him Friday and telling him to have a safe weekend, just as I always do. "See you Monday.", he said. He won't be seeing me, but I will see him at his wake today. Today was his birthday. This has really hit me hard, Terry had a wife and two children, a daughter who is fourteen and a son who is only eight. I think about how they will be affected by Terry's decisions that helped lead to his death and their grief. I'm going to go home tonight before the wake and hug and kiss my family extra. Terry was a friend of mine and a good hand that I could depend on at work, now I have to watch a employee of mine be buried. This isn't what I ever expected to do as a supervisor. All I can say is that everyone needs to understand what drinking and driving can do to you and everyone around you. It was not fun to clean out his locker, and the voice of his wife on the telephone asking me for his check so he could be buried will be with me forever. I can handle it, but it has made a part of the world much clearer to me, my family depends on me for more than a paycheck, I have to be there for them as well. It is something more poignant than ever. May God hold Terry and his family in His hands and have mercy on them. You guys don't have to reply to this, just think about what happened to Terry, his family, and his friends. Think about those who will miss you...
This news just rips me apart. There's something about losing a loved one in a tragic accident that takes years to get over..... At first its a bleeding wound that is so painful that it feels as though someone ripped half your being away. Then it becomes a scab that easily knocks off every time your memory is jogged. Taking many many years before it actually becomes dull feeling scar tissue that will take quite a blow to relive the pain. Your news has just done that to me. If you want to do something for his wife...go visit her and share all your good memories of her husband with her. She really needs this now. They have my prayers.
Tragic news. That is one of the reasons I stopped drinking 8 years ago.I'm reckless enough without alcohol.May God bless his family and friends!
I come from a non-drinking family. Growing up , and even ocassionally today I get the strange look or verbal jab for not taking an offered drink. Now as I head into the last quarter of my life I'm thankful I never got into the habit. I can't begin to calculate the amount of money I've been able to spend on cars and my family because I didn't stand in front of a urinal watching my hard work trickle down the drain. I've had the sad occasion a few times going to the funeral of someone who died while driving drunk or worse yet being the victim of someone who was drinking. It's hard to say goodbye for the last time but knowing stupidity is the reason their gone makes it that much harder. May this family find a way to cope with their loss. Frank
if i may, i would like to share a similar story, my most senior employee larry (metalshapes knows him and this story) was driving home one friday night from cashing his paycheck last oct. 15th his wife was riding on the back of his motorcycle with him. the had the same routine every friday, cash the check and go down to the reservation to pick up a couple of cartons of smokes and they each gambled 40 dollars. on his way home from a fun and successful night from the casino, and only about an hour of time spent there, he was turning from oracle rd. here in town and got "left turned" by a kid who was drinking and driving. this guy was driving his girlfriends car, he had no license, no insurance, and multiple warrants for his arrest for driving on a suspended license. when he hit larry, it crushed his left leg, chopped his foot off at the ankle, and threw his wife about a hundred feet to land head first into a 6 inch tall cement curb. she died, and they had to remove his leg 10 centimeters below the knee. we took care of him from beginning to now, he was in a commision type position, and switched him to salary emmidiately, help buy his prostetic, helped with funeral arrangements, and have helped him rebuild hismotorcycle. heres the shitty part, his insurance company gave him 800 for loss of riding his motorcycle, and 6500 for repairs, which didnt cover it, and the guy who hit him, got 30 days in jail and a 3500 fine, that went to the city, NOT LARRY! the guy didnt even apologize in court! but on the brighter side, larry got to add conditions to his 30 days in jail, ( and this is no bullshit) the guy served his 30 days in jail, on crutches!
Frank.......I think you and I must be DEUCE brothers or something......separated by fate......but then......of course....... my Daddy was a traveling salesman....... When I drove wreckers.....years ago ........on the weekends and at night....most accidents had alcohol involved. Saw a lot on innocent people hurt or dead because of some drunk.........and .......a lot of the times............the drunk survived ...... .
It is difficult to express adequate words on a tragedy of this sort.... our sincerest thoughts go out to all touched by this. Johnny & Kali
I've got friends that have fucked around with drinking and driving. It's not a fucking game, and it hurts to see what happens when cars and booze are mixed. I don't know a family including my own that's not been effected by a drinking a driving. Best wishes to the family, I can't imagine how tough that is...
Jesus. I hope some of the people out there think of this before they get behind the wheel. Save yourself,your family and friends years of pain. You can so easily change the lives of so many people in a instant. My thoughts go out to his family and friends....
Quote from Deuce Roadster When I drove wreckers.....years ago ........on the weekends and at night....most accidents had alcohol involved. Saw a lot on innocent people hurt or dead because of some drunk.........and .......a lot of the times............the drunk survived ...... Deuce, I also drove wreckers at night and on weekends. Like you I saw MANY people injured or killed because of alcohol related accidents. It really makes an impression on you when you have to stretch that cable through the broken windshield of a car, wrap it around the steering column thats imbeded 6 inches into the chest of someone who is conscious but so drunk they feel no pain and pull the column back so the paramedics can extract him from the car (pre collapsable column days). Then just they put him on the stretcher you hear a groan/scream and have the paramedic pull the sheet over his head after making a valiant effort to save him. Yea, that drinking thing is really cool. I'll also confirm that a lot of times the innocent victim is the one to be disfigured or die. Damn people should know better than to use the streets and highways when someone who is just having a little fun or winding down after a hard day by tossing down a few is only using the wrong side of the road temporarily. Frank
As with some of the ex tow truck drivers, I work in the EMS field and have seen plenty of DUI related crashes or heard first hand accounts from fellow EMS people who were there.
I'm sooo sorry to hear of your loss and know how you feel....One of my best friends who also was a partner of mine at work was killed by a drunk driver a couple of years back....I carried the guilt for a long time and still kind of do deep down inside....I went through a bad break up and turned to booze/drugs to ease my pain...My buddy saw the pain and as always wanted to help me anyway he could...I'm not one for opening up my feelings and letting people know whats going on inside of me....But i was soo torn up and just crying for help while heading down the road of self destruction....He came by after work one day to talk to me and help me vent,,ya know that shoulder to lean on...I kept so much stuff inside over the years it all came out and i tore my house up...But he was there and did just what he said he would do....After things were settled i felt so relieved and a peaceful calm for once in my life...He really did affect me and said some things that till this day get me through...The thing is...as he left my house i gave him the old hand shake and hug....I couldnt have thanked him enough for what he did...I only wished i said those words to him as he left....cause on his way home from my house he was killed....I cant help but feel if i held on a lil bit longer,,,he would still be here.....I felt so guilty and selfish when i found out man....I felt i should have been in that car,,,not him....But i realized that god must have had better plans for him just like he did for yours......Keep strong holmes!
I am very sorry to hear this. There have been a bunch of fatal accidents around here lately and I've been wondering just what the hell is happening on the roads.
My thoughts and prayers go out to them and all the other victims of such recklessness. People just don't get it. When these drunks get into a car all they are thinking about is themselves. They aren't thinking about the car with 3 kids their mom inside, or a dad coming home from work, ....some ones loved one that they could run into and kill...If you don't have a sober driver to take you home....stay home and drink like the rest of us.....or don't drink at all.
my prayers are with his family...that is horrible to hear that. i recently started to read a book called "the purpose driven life" .......put's a lot of things in perspective. man, i really don't know what to say..it saddens me.
That's a terrible thing for his family. Also, please don't drink and drive a boat or other watercraft either. Two people were killed on a local lake Saturday night when their cabin cruiser was hit by a 38 foot Donzi powerboat. Excessive speed and alcohol\drugs were apparently factors.
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