While gripping my hands on a drive home today on two freeways, my husband is a good sport about my uncomfortableness on the highway, I snapped a few photos of cars surrounding us. One in particular was "up in our grill." I thought of the time it took me to birth my 3 kids. Carried them for 27 months in total. Carried a 4th for 8 weeks. Labored around 45 hours in total.
We were going 65, then man was less then 2 seconds away from us.
I thought about two horrific car accidents that have made the national headlines in the last few years. One in which a family lost all 3 of their 3 children.
And one in which both parents died and the kids were severly hurt.
And yet the car that was driving so fast right behind us was probably going to make it to his destination 10 minutes faster then us. Yet if we braked and he hit us that would be it.
All of those hours of laboring, carrying and caring for.
Poof.
A well known mommy blogger died today from breast cancer. In reading her bio she said her mantra was,
"All that survives after our death are publications and people. So look carefully after the words you write, the thoughts and publications you create, and how you love others. For these are the only things that will remain."
Powerful.
I'm trying to think about these publications. Trying to word them with thought. Trying to create some change.
So who do we start tapping on the shoulder and saying, um, we need to fix this problem? I've tried writing politicians, pitching story ideas to newsmen (was told but what's the story? Me: Well people are dying in enormous numbers on the roads. News: Yes, but what's the story?) I've even encouraged a policeman I know to ticket speeders for frequently.
How about we write our local representative and tell them we want more to be done about the obscene/scary/stupid amount of preventable people dying on the roads.
That's a start!
OK, I'm off to do it myself.