In Memory Of Melody

This is Melody(in the middle) with her father, Aaron, and her little sister, Melissa. I have never met Melody, but I feel as if I know this girl. You see, I have been a part of an online Mommy community for ten years now. We all met because we had July 1999 babies. And although life has gotten busy, as life will do, we have all remained connected. A week ago, today, Melody and her father were hit by a drunk driver on a motorcycle as they were out for an evening walk. They were in a crosswalk at a four way stop. Melody died from her injuries. Her father suffered terrible injuries that cost him one of his legs and they are having to reconstruct his other one. He has been so heavily sedated that he has not even been told of his daughter's death. This could have been anybody. How many times do we take walks with our families in the evening?

The worst part about all of this was that this man had SIX prior DUI convictions! He was a walking timebomb. How many more people have to die like this? It seems insane to me that this man still had a license at all. I think that Melody's death was a travesty that could have been prevented, but why wasn't it?

I can't stop thinking about her and her family. As one of our mommy friends wrote so eloquently on her Facebook, "I have read about almost every milestone this young girl made prior to last Thursday because her mom and several of my mommy friends found each other on a place much like Facebook 10 years ago. Melody will not go on a first date like Emma. She will not graduate from any school. She will not travel. She will not have a first true love. She will no longer fight and make up with her best friends. She will not fight with her parents and learn a life lesson or two from them. She will never play the violin again for her grandparents. She won't meet Emma or the other kids from the Bulletin Board. She will not excitedly hug her little sister on Christmas morning after they run downstairs and see the pile of presents under the tree. She is now a memory; an untouchable presence in her family's life that will forever be missed....I am MADD."

I hope and pray that we can prevent other families from having to endure the loss of their loved ones. I encourage you to join MADD. And also to be vocal about drinking and driving. Please do not allow it to happen. EVER!
http://www.madd.org/