Let me just say this was ONE INTENSE PROGRAM. THIS was the closest these kids can come to experiencing the aftermath of drunk driving without it actually being reality. I hope and pray that it GOT to some of these kids who feel SO invincible... And PARENTS as well! We sure have some doozies in this town....
This second day of Every 15 Minutes brought the school and parents together in the high school auditorium to sit before a display of caskets and photos of the "dead" kids. A color guard....a video produced of the accident scene the day before(WATCH below)...and kids and parents reading their final letters to each other.
A funeral for my daughter and her peers. A surreal day to be sure. It brought up painful memories of the past...my best friend in a casket, slipping a final love note into my dead step-father's pocket, a gymnasium filled with college kids honoring my new best friend who was killed by a drunk driver, the beautiful memorial for our family friend-a 17 year old who drank too much at a party, our friend who was killed by a train, my father dying in a bed. Painful fears of the future...my children leaving the nest, what if something happens to them? It was as close as Miles and I have come to experiencing the death of our daughter. AWFUL. NO words....
And I am so relieved the whole fucking thing is OVER! And, again, SO proud of Dylan for taking this project on. How many kids has she helped stay alive?!?!?!
If it wasn't for Miles, I think they would have had to take me away and put me on holiday in a rubber room. The pain of the day was calmed somewhat by comic relief. Miles was HIGHER than a kite the whole time!!! He is the BEST dad. Despite the fact that he had IV sedation(phobic about people dinking with his eyes) for his cataract surgery only an hour before, we got his ass to that school and into a chair in the auditorium! HILARIOUS!!!! He knew how important this was for Dylan and he wasn't going to miss it. Although, he kinda did because he doesn't remember SHIT!!!! But, he was THERE! I had to hold his arm and walk him through the parking lot, into the school to the "grieving parent's" room. He was walking like he was TRASHED and I thought, my god, we're not going to get away with this. I was constantly smiling and telling everyone, "He just had surgery! He had sedation!" , so that folks wouldn't think he was DRUNK at the anti-drinking and driving event! Creepin' Jesus. I tried to give him some vigorous massage to wake him up a bit -he was staring kinda catatonically-but it didn't help much. UP again, Honey, and we all walk to the auditorium FILLED with kids watching the Grieving Parents enter. Once seated, Miles proceeded to doze on and off onto my shoulder. Or complain about things taking too long. SHHHHH!!! I had TOLD him, "just DON'T talk at all!!" before we had gotten to the school! I can only imagine what those kids were thinking. Hopefully by now Dylan has gotten the word spread that, NO, her dad was not blitzed! He just had surgery! It was LEGIT!
So my husband's antics really did soften the emotional severity of the day. Everything happens for a reason, yes? And Daddy had surgery and got drugged up the day of the funeral so that Mommy wouldn't wind up a drunk herself! It's all good.
THE VIDEO:
