Families experience joy and pain as part of everyday life. So, it is to be expected that the old will eventually leave us and the new will be born into our families to carry on another generation.

As family expands, new branches are added and members spread out geographically living their own lives and following their own paths. There are periods of time that we connect frequently and times that we drift apart.  But the core family connection remains. One of the worst situations that a family can experience is a parent having to bury their young child.

My extended family on my father’s side became a horrible statistic this past weekend. A cousin and her family of four were on their way back from a very average vacation road trip to Montana when they were hit head-on by an alleged drunk driver going the wrong way on I-90. My cousin’s eight-year-old son was killed instantly. She, along with her other child, a 5 year old, are both in stable condition in a Montana hospital. Her husband was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle with very serious injuries.

This family name will now live for eternity in the 2012 drunken driving statistics because of the loss of their child. However, I cannot imagine the pain they are now living and will continue to live for the rest of their lives because of a foolish decision made by someone else and by simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

We often hear the stories just like this one. We read about them in the newspaper and see them on TV. We all know that we should not drink and drive and that all too often there are horrible consequences from doing so.

The man who caused this accident has paid the price for his decision and also died in the accident, but there is no comfort in that. It does not bring back a little boy, that had his entire life ahead.

The hope that someone reading this is reminded to make the right decision to not get behind the wheel if they have been drinking. That they will think about an entire family whose hearts now have a gaping hole where a joy filled, smiling little face should be.

Don’t drink and drive. Don’t let others drink and drive.