The 4th
The 4th of July is always a bit of a somber holiday for me. Aside from the pagentry and celebrations of our nation's Independence from Great Britain, I've always remembered it for two very tragic events that happened while I was younger.
The first happened when I was a student at Moretown Elementary. A classmate of mine was involved in a major car accident in Waitsfield, Vermont, when a drunk driver somehow made his way from the celebration in Warren, crossed the center line and smashed into Chris. His mother and aunt were killed in the accident: neither were wearing their seat belts, and he was the only survivor. I remember visiting him in the hospital where he was recovering. As it was over the summer, I don't know if a lot of my classmates even knew about it. I don't remember what happened to him after that - I think that he went to school somewhere else, and I don't know if I've spoken to him in a long time.
The second came a couple of years later. I was at Vermont's Boy Scout camp, Mt. Norris, when I got a phone call from my Dad, who was back at home. "Do you remember Ryan Evans?" He asked me - I had trouble hearing him over the noise of the mess hall, and he repeated the name. It took me a moment to snap the name and context together - he was a friend throughout elementary school, a fellow geek. We wrote comics together in 3rd or 4th Grade, and he really enjoyed football. He drowned, Dad explained. He was in one of the Great Lakes with his family, and he was caught in a rip-tide, and dragged out into deeper water before anyone could do anything. I was upset - he was a grade above me, and had left for Middle School at Harwood, and I think that I'd been looking forward to meeting him again after a year.
Life is a precious thing - it's weird coincidence that both events happened on a notable, memorable holiday. Year after year, I find myself thinking about Ryan and Chris: I'm not sure that I come to any particular conclusion, except to realize that accidents happen - sometimes because of poor choices, sometimes due to a freak happening in nature.