Tragedy
As many of my readers know, my dear and darling husband is a photographer. We had a wedding in West Tennessee this weekend.
The weather was lovely...in the 80's, the sun was shining, the bridal couple was the epitome of happiness, as was the bridal party, who you could tell had been buddies since school.
When we have weddings that require distance drives, I enjoy them a lot. It gives me time to talk with my husband, who is extremely busy. When he is driving, there's nothing else he can do than talk, and yesterday afternoon we had a great trip home.
Upon arriving home, he received a call from the bride. One of the groomsmen had died early Sunday morning, and she wanted to know about pictures we had taken of him. Husband said he would call her back just as soon as he could turn his computer on.
I was in a state of shock, I was thinking of the six groomsmen that had been all smiles and joy the previous day. Was the decedent the groomsman that was married with two children? The one with the pregnant girlfriend? Of course, the loss of any one of those young groomsmen was a tragedy in itself, but I needed to know.
Husband called her back, and it was neither of them. It was a young fellow, bright eyed and handsome. I remembered that he drove this huge truck, the tires jacked the body way up, dwarfing my smallish SUV, and the engine made a huge rumble rumble. Perhaps he was of the mindset that he was impervious; that he had his whole life ahead of him. Sadly this was not to be.
The bride needed pictures because it was probably going to be a closed casket for visitation.
It would have been crass to ask outright if he was driving drunk, but the facts do suggest that very conclusion. There was an afterparty that the husband and I attended, and it was all drinking and dancing. After that some of them went to a bar. I will not get into details, but the end result was the decedent hitting a tree a few miles from his home. There were decisions that could and should have been made, but they were not. An absolute tragedy.
I was absolutely numb yesterday. The previous day I pinned a boutonnière to his lapel, I'm the person behind the camera that makes subjects smile. I made him smile. I couldn't understand how someone so robust with life could be gone in a matter of hours.
Friends. I know you have heard this in the media ad nauseum, but PLEASE think before you drink. You know that sensation of calm you might feel after that first drink? Well, that's impairment. Your feelings and sensations are being depressed. Your friends and family love you. They want you around. Proximity to the home does not guarantee that you will make it home. Please......don't drink and drive.
I believe in God. I believe that Christ died for my sins. I pray that he rests in peace.
The weather was lovely...in the 80's, the sun was shining, the bridal couple was the epitome of happiness, as was the bridal party, who you could tell had been buddies since school.
When we have weddings that require distance drives, I enjoy them a lot. It gives me time to talk with my husband, who is extremely busy. When he is driving, there's nothing else he can do than talk, and yesterday afternoon we had a great trip home.
Upon arriving home, he received a call from the bride. One of the groomsmen had died early Sunday morning, and she wanted to know about pictures we had taken of him. Husband said he would call her back just as soon as he could turn his computer on.
I was in a state of shock, I was thinking of the six groomsmen that had been all smiles and joy the previous day. Was the decedent the groomsman that was married with two children? The one with the pregnant girlfriend? Of course, the loss of any one of those young groomsmen was a tragedy in itself, but I needed to know.
Husband called her back, and it was neither of them. It was a young fellow, bright eyed and handsome. I remembered that he drove this huge truck, the tires jacked the body way up, dwarfing my smallish SUV, and the engine made a huge rumble rumble. Perhaps he was of the mindset that he was impervious; that he had his whole life ahead of him. Sadly this was not to be.
The bride needed pictures because it was probably going to be a closed casket for visitation.
It would have been crass to ask outright if he was driving drunk, but the facts do suggest that very conclusion. There was an afterparty that the husband and I attended, and it was all drinking and dancing. After that some of them went to a bar. I will not get into details, but the end result was the decedent hitting a tree a few miles from his home. There were decisions that could and should have been made, but they were not. An absolute tragedy.
I was absolutely numb yesterday. The previous day I pinned a boutonnière to his lapel, I'm the person behind the camera that makes subjects smile. I made him smile. I couldn't understand how someone so robust with life could be gone in a matter of hours.
Friends. I know you have heard this in the media ad nauseum, but PLEASE think before you drink. You know that sensation of calm you might feel after that first drink? Well, that's impairment. Your feelings and sensations are being depressed. Your friends and family love you. They want you around. Proximity to the home does not guarantee that you will make it home. Please......don't drink and drive.
I believe in God. I believe that Christ died for my sins. I pray that he rests in peace.
posted by Coco | 7:38 AM
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