He was seventeen, suntanned and good looking. In the fall he was a high school football star, and he was on the short-list of acceptances to one of the West's best Universities, but on this mid-summer's evening he drove his new Camaro through the mountains, towards a house on the river where somebody was throwing a party. Life was good. The mountain air was exhilarating, and he drove with confidence, negotiating the winding roads with ease, and the lengthening shadows that darkened the blacktop.
His best friend rode beside him, his hands smacking his knees as he sang loudly and tunelessly to the beat of the rock music that blared from the car's radio. That was one of the things he liked about this friend. He loved to sing and didn't give a rat's ass about who was listening. They had been friends since they were six, tracking snakes and lizards that hid under the rocks in the heat of summer, they rode the rapids on the river, skied the mountains in winter and laughed and fought and raced through life at top-speed.
The sun was setting as the boy drove into the small river town, it's light yellowing the sky, it's glare sparking off the windshield. He stepped on the gas to catch the stop light at the bottom of the hill before it changed. The engine roared, drowning out the sound of radio as the car lunged forward and into the path of a logging truck backlit by the dying rays of the setting sun.
The sound of tearing metal, the stench of burnt rubber filled the air, gasoline puddled underneath the logs that were strewn like pick-up-sticks across the road. The silence that followed was broken only by the sound of the rock station still broadcasting from the Camaro's radio, and the boy's voice calling his friend's name. There was no answer.
The days following the accident were dark. The tragedy too hard to grasp for too many people affected by it. No one was more affected than the boy who knew his actions had killed his best friend.
This happens all over the world, maybe every day. Young people, good kids, bad judgment and tragedy. How do they go on? How do they live with the guilt and the grief? Sometimes they don't.
Good parents, themselves in despair, can help. So can friends. But really, that youngster who was behind the wheel is very much alone.
The only good thing about this, that anyone could see, was that the kids in town and for miles around were driving better. No one ran any stop lights for months. Speeding tickets fell off, and everyone seemed to have slowed down. A lot of youngsters grew up very fast that evening. Especially the boy.
There is a way to look at something this terrible in a different light, and from a different perspective. Not everyone reading this will agree, and nor do I ask you to. But for just a few moments, I ask you to consider it.
These two boys were lifelong friends. But it might have been anyone. People who barely knew each other. But what if they have actually known each other throughout eternity? What if they have lived numerous other lives here and on the other side together? What if there was an agreement between them to come into this life together and create this accident?
What!!? What for?
To create awareness on many, many levels. Not only safety awareness. But to be aware of the people you love and never miss an opportunity to tell them you love them. Because, in the final analysis, love is all there is. To be aware of all the people such a tragedy affects and in some cases, cripples. To be aware of how you view your own sense of responsibility in all things that matter. To value our own lives and live them to their fullest potential.
I believe that with this perspective, this young man will move on with purpose, and the intention of making things better for himself and for all those around him. I believe that with the right counsel, when the grief passes, he will take stock of his life like never before, and he will guide that life to its highest potential. Who knows? Will he become a high school teacher? A counselor who will counsel from experience? Will he be a movie maker? A song writer? A legislator? Will he teach his own youngsters and others to live well for their own sakes, and the sakes of all the people who love them?
I think so. He will make it his life's purpose. And he won't be alone. His best friend, his co-creator will be walking beside him, every step of the way.
So, when the sun goes out of your life this way, always wonder what the new day could bring. I hope it's something wonderful.
