So there I am, lazily watching college football yesterday, and I hear Wifey on the phone with D2. Wifey's voice is down several octaves, so I know something is wrong.
I pick up the phone, and D2 is tearfully telling that there has been a horrific crash in Gainesville. One of her Palmetto friends was killed, another on life support, and several more have various fractures, etc...
It seems many college freshman traveled to UF for Gator Growl. Somehow, Sunday at 1 am, 9 kids piled into the car of 18 year old Andrew Parker. Andrew was apparently speeding, and tried to turn left into Campus Lodge, a place where D1 lived for a year. He hit a tree. Andrew died at the scene.
His best friend pulled him out of the car, a boy named Tommy Heffernan. Tommy's dad played for the Canes when I was there, and he's now a lawyer. Tommy plays football for UNC.
Worst for us, a girl named Rachel Grusky was taken to the ICU, on life support. She's a girl we know quite well. Wifey used to see her Dad, a chiropractor in town. I just checked the Gainesville news, and happily saw no update about deaths. We're praying she pulls through.
9 kids in a car at 1 am. Smart ones, too --the young man who was killed was attending Santa Fe College, and had been accepted to start UF in the Spring. He already joined a fraternity.
D2 said he'd been here to the house over the high school years. His parents. Ohm his parents...
Of course, this comes on the heels of the beautiful 15 year old Palmetto High girl dying of the infection. I can just imagine poor Mr. Weiner, the Palmetto principal, dealing with these multiple tragedies with the students.
Of course, there's no making sense of this. It just IS, like earthquakes, plane crashes...It's never fair when a child dies...
We met D1 and her boyfriend Thomas for dinner in the Gables. When she emailed the restaurant info, she said she hoped we would gather with gratitude that our family was not more closely involved.
Before Wifey and I left for dinner, a friend from Boston called, shaky voiced. She had heard via the instant communication of our age, only that Palmetto High grads were in a terrible crash. She cried with happiness when I assured her D2 wasn't in the car...
D1 gets it, of course. It IS about gratitude for the avoidance of tragedy --even when calamity comes perilously close.
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2 comments:
don't know who you are but I was looking for any news on Rachel and found you site. My son is friends with Rachel from Palmetto...it is always sad when a child dies but when it's so close to your own kids it's even harder to accept and when you know it could have easily been your child or another friend...I can not imagine the pain Andrew's parents will be experiencing, Rachel's, all the kids.
Just wondering who this is? This is Andrew's mom
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