Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Fragile

The news this week has been sad and worse. News came to us of a terrible traffic accident in which one of our students died. Another student has died a few days later from injuries in the same accident.

I didn't know either of these students, but I'm stunned and saddened. I can't imagine how the world has changed for their parents.

I don't think much about how fragile humans are usually. I think parents think about their kids being fragile; certainly, most parents are protective. Sometimes I get frustrated by how protective people seem about their kids, how they hover and try to intervene in every aspect of their kids lives. I wonder at kids not being allowed to ride bikes by themselves or go to the park or whatever at an age when I was exploring my world with a fair sense of freedom.

But today I've been thinking about how those students' parents must have tried to protect them, and worried when they couldn't protect them, from the time they were born until the day they died.

I forget sometimes how hard it must be for parents to try so hard to keep their kids safe for so long, and then step back and watch them go off to college, make decisions that seem iffy and dangerous.

Reading about these students, and the others who survived in the same car crash, they sound like people who made good decisions, were doing well, would have been a source of great pride to family and friends.

But, purely by chance, a tire came off a truck going the opposite direction at precisely the moment it could hit the students' van, and all the protectiveness of their parents, all their good decisions and hard work are stopped short.

6 comments:

  1. For someone young to die, well, it's unnatural; children are supposed to outlive their parents. I can't even imagine how those parents are feeling. In my life, my biggest fear is that something will happen to one of my children or grandchildren and if, late at night, my phone rings, I panic. Those poor parents.

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  2. Oh, this is horrible news - it amazing how tragedy does throw into sharp relief the fragility of life - especially young life which is filled with so much promise and potential...

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  3. Anonymous5:31 AM

    I am sorry, Bardiac.

    Having children takes a leap of faith that I am personally not capable of. Having students is about as close as I'm willing to come.

    I hope that this terrible event can be redeemed in some way.

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  4. I'm sorry and am saddened by this post.

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  5. I am so sorry. Having a student die was one of the hardest things I've dealt with as a teacher.

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