Who would have thought a Friday night out on the town would turn deadly? I doubt the young couple who were enjoying being together ever thought it would be their last time.
One of the drawbacks to my job is having to report on something that you yourself don't understand and find so terribly tragic that it brings tears to your eyes as you quietly cry over someone you've never met.
Last weekend, 2 Grissom High School teens were hit by a drunk driver and killed on Airport Road in South Huntsville. Friends of the young couple set up this moving memorial close to the crash site. They hung pictures, wrote messages, laid flowers and left momentos. 2 crosses poke up from the earth as a reminder of a loss so senseless it can hardly be described in words.
I am a stranger to these people. I did not know either one of the teens killed. As I stood at the memorial, it became obvious how popular and well-loved these 2 individuals were. Friends and complete strangers stopping by to say a quick prayer or leave something as a token of thought and love.
I can't imagine what it must be like for this young couple's parents, grandparents, sisters, brothers, friends, etc. How terrible and lost they must feel knowing there son or daughter will never walk through the door again. They will never hug them. They will never hold hands. They will never kiss them. They will never celebrate holidays or special occassions. They will never get the chance to say I love you just one more time. How heartbreaking.
The driver who hit them survived. He is Hispanic with a previous DUI record. He's in this country illegally and was drunk, behind the wheel of a vehicle after causing an accident just a few minutes before this terrible loss. As angry, hurt and confused as many feel one young woman, who was the cousin of the girl killed said this when I interviewed her, "...we have to find a way to forgive." I admire her for her kindness, her forgiving heart and spirit. So few could ever mumble those words after losing someone they love.
So, to the families, friends, and loved ones of these 2 special young people whose lives were cut tragically short, may God bless you and help heal your broken hearts.
Tell someone you love them....it may be your last time.
