It has been a Sad Day

Before I can tell you why I am sad, I have to give you all a bit of information. Back in the summer of 2010 a young lady named Hope posted that she needed someone to take care of her cat while she lived in a dorm in college. She was not living at home and no one in her family wanted to help out. I saw a picture of the cat and knew we had to help her. This cat, named Whisky, looked just like our precious Ridgeway who had died in 2008. I emailed her and we spoke on the phone. We met in person and got to meet Whisky. Now Whisky had a temperment, but could be sweet. We agreed she would bring us Whisky in August and she would give me $40 a month towards food and litter.

We took Whisky in and it took almost two months to get used to us. She finally decided to make Jacob's room her room and stayed in their 99.9% of the time, only venturing out every once in a while. Jacob and Whisky were quite close and he was the only one who could pick her up. I would send Hope updates about Whisky and send her pictures and movies too. We kept in touch and pretty soon it was May 2001 and she came to get Whisky.

We kept in touch through Facebook. I followed how she was doing in college and she would post pictures of Whisky. Jacob had been really sad to see Whisky leave, but he was glad she was happy with Hope. Hope recently posted a picture of Whisky that made us all laugh and I had written her about Whisky.

Last night, when I signed onto Facebook I saw Hope had posted on her Wall. Well, I started reading and I couldn't believe what I was reading. It stated that Hope had been killed in a car wreck on Saturday. I went straight to her Wall and started reading all of the posts. There were no words to express how sad I was. She was only 19 years old. I finally got some more details, and found out she was not wearing a seat belt. She was the passenger in a car that the driver lost control of and they hit another car carrying two people. The three other people survived, but one had to be care flighted to a hospital. I have no idea what their condition is.

I told Jacob the story today. He gasped when I told him that she was not wearing a seatbelt. We had a long talk. Jacob is 15 years old and will be driving within a year. I don't judge Hope for not wearing her seatbelt, but her tragic death affects so many. What if she had only worn that seat belt? What if? We will never know. This has bothered me so much today. Maybe, it is because Jacob is only four years younger than her. Maybe it is because she was just so young. I just know that I am sad and I am sad for her family. It gives me perspective and reminds me that I need to live every day to the fullest.