Once again tragedy has struck the Eagle Observer community, with a beautiful young lady dead and a truck driver injured as the result of a terrible crash last Friday morning.
The lives of family members, friends and acquaintances have been crushed by the pain of this tragedy. And, on Monday, many gathered to pay their last respects and shed tears over this loss.
Could it have been avoided? Some may ask that question and perhaps even blame themselves with questions of what if....
As a former truck driver, I always feared the day when someone's child, parent or spouse might drive into my path. It almost happened a time or two. I even remember the terrified face of one driver who was sliding across the rain-soaked I-80 median toward my oncoming truck when her car stopped in the nick of time. Had her car slid into my lane, it could have resulted in fatalities. I couldn't have prevented it. There is only so much a driver can do. The rest is beyond his control and out of his hands.
One might even wonder why two vehicles on an otherwise empty highway would cross paths at that exact moment in time. Again, it is beyond our control.
Why did it happen? Who can answer that question but He who knows all? All we can say, with our limited knowledge, is what is revealed to us in Genesis 3 and throughout the Scriptures: We live in a sin-scarred world where death happens -- even to the young.
This, of course, makes it all-the-more important that we tell, not only adults but our children, of God's grace and mercy and forgiveness in Jesus. How important it is that our children know Him, trust Him and follow Him -- from little on! He is our only hope in this sinful world, and for the world to come; and we never know when a life -- even our own life -- may suddenly be cut short.
This tragedy is nothing new in human history. Every generation has faced such tragic losses. We've had several in our area recently. And what adult cannot look back and remember earlier tragedies where the lives of classmates, friends, family members or coworkers were cut short?
I usually go to serious accidents with a camera in hand to record the events, but I didn't hear the scanner early Friday morning. By the time I heard of the accident, only the smell of spilled diesel fuel and some pieces of bent-up metal remained at the scene.
I'm really kind of relieved I didn't hear the radio traffic Friday. It's hard enough to witness the death of strangers but harder when it's the tragic death of people you know -- especially the young and children. And each time I do go, I'm reminded of the times I was among the first on the scene with my patrol car, helped load bodies and had to bear the sad news to parents or family members.
On my last trip back to northwest Kansas, I had opportunity to speak to a woman with whom my last words, spoken to her many years ago, were the sad news that both her parents were killed in a traffic accident. It was an early morning crash with only two vehicles on the road for miles, but her parents' pickup truck happened to be in the path of a speeding drunk driver. All died. It was good to hear this woman, who was young at the time of the accident, acknowledge that it was God's time for her parents to go home -- perhaps even His way to spare them suffering from other medical issues which were arising. She left it in the hands of an all-wise and very merciful God.
Some lessons can, and hopefully will, be learned from this tragedy to prevent similar tragedies in the future. Driving a car is serious business, and any mistake -- even that of another driver -- can lead to tragedy. It's not worth taking any chances or pushing ourselves to the point of being unsafe.
We extend our sympathies to those who mourn such tragic loss. We pray for those who struggle to overcome the devastation. We remind all of God's mercy and forgiveness in Christ Jesus. He is our only hope! And, hopefully, we all take note and learn and protect life -- it's so fragile.
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 06/25/2014