Because This is My Blog

I can write what I want, and I don't want to write about music today. There is something different I want to write about today.

Everyone knows that five young ladies from my town, Fairport, NY, were killed in a car accident earlier this week. These were five young women who had just graduated from high school and were poised to start the next chapters of their lives. We just didn't know what those chapters really were going to be.

As a parent of a son who graduated last year, I can imagine that on the Tuesday night after their Thursday graduation, these girls' parents were doing the same things that I was doing a year ago: planning a party, looking at photos, going to their children's friends' parties, preparing lists for Bed, Bath & Beyond for the children's dorm room needs, thinking about how hard it was going to be to let go of that last hug when we dropped them off at school, wondering how we were going to get along without their smiling faces around the house, asking ourselves how the time could have gone this fast, and being proud that our children were about to start new chapters in their lifes' stories.

When I was alone at night last summer, I would reminisce and then cry my eyes out "pre-missing" him long before he even left. But the day we moved him in to his dorm, I held it together like a champ. I didn't cry until I was alone back at home. I couldn't wait for Parents' Weekend (which I'm sure he was dreading!) and Christmas break. I knew I would be seeing him then.

Those parents of those five girls--Bailey, Hannah, Katie, Meredith and Sara--will not be going to Parents' Weekend, will not have them home for Christmas break. They have to deal with the fact that they know they will not be seeing them again. And that breaks my heart.

Every morning since I heard what happened, I think of those parents awakening. I think about how for the first half-second of consciousness, they don't remember that their whole world has changed. Then, I can imagine the feeling of a weight settling on their chests, their hearts aching, the feeling of emptiness. And it breaks my heart.

A friend said tonight that our high school will always be remembered as the school that lost five graduates in one night. I hope that our school, and our town, can be remembered for the love that has poured forth for those five girls we lost. The school community, as well as the town, has been rocked by this. But we are strong; we can get through and, most importantly, we can help the parents get through.

And I believe we have five new angels watching over us who will help us on this path.