A Farewell

Allow me to rant a bit here. For those looking for knit content, come back later. I'm really angry about something and just need to rant.

This was Catherine Thomas. Her family laid her to rest yesterday. Yes, Halloween when all thoughts should have been on tricks, treats, dressing up and other such nonsense the community of Herald Harbor was listening to a preacher trying to tell us that Catherine wouldn't have wanted us to cry but would want us to know that her life was full of meaning, and that now she is in a better place. (And no Rev, if Catherine were here watching us she wouldn't say anything, we would not be in the church. We would be at work, school, doing what we do on Monday mornings. )

pftttttt!

Catherine was 17 years old. She was a friend of both my daughter and son. She would have graduated from High School this coming June with my son and cousin. She was a loving daughter, caring sister, hard worker and a great friend -- just ask those who attended the funeral. BUT, her death was avoidable. She was going out with friends and the boy (don't even sit there reading this and try to tell me he was a man just because he was over 18 years) who was driving was going way too fast for the road they were traveling on and wrapped the car around a tree. Some thing that struck me as rather scary was one of her sisters was the car behind them and saw the accident happen.....so she was driving just as fast or as near to as he was.

Now one of the reasons for my rant is this is not the first time this tragedy has happened in our little neighborhood. Not even the first time time this year. It seems the kids in our neighborhood are so angry that once they're given "the keys" they go flying (literally) away never to come back. Our community is small and no there really isn't anything to do here so the kids sit around and complain of boredom. Never thinking of ways to stop the boredom other then by random acts of destruction or crime. And the "elders" in the community sit behind their locked doors wringing their hands fretting over the acts of these kids.

Has our society become so hurried and self-absorbed that instead of giving our kids a way to do for themselves and helping them; we just give them the answers and be done with them?

So, now I'm stepping off my soap box. And no, the tree didn't survive either.

Side note: There were 4 people in the car that was wrapped around the tree that night. One was Catherine's sister. She will going back and forth to the hospital for reconstructive surgery. Another boy in the vehicle is still in hospital but is now out of Intensive Care. The driver, he was treated for minor injuries and released that night.