A Tragedy

Many years ago, I got my first real job as an assistant to a state senator. I was young and living in the capital of our state. Somewhat ironically, there were several other young males with whom I graduated from high shcool that were in the same boat. There were about 10 of us that graduated within a year or two from each other from a small Catholic all-male high school. All of us were legislative assistants, bureaucratic administrators and/or lawyers. Several worked for the governor. In fact, the political reporter from our hometown's daily newspaper wrote an article about this cabal of young men from the same small high school that were having some impact on state politics.

For the past 20 years, there has been regular contact among the members of this cabal. There have been numerous gatherings to celebrate weddings, births, birthdays, funerals of family members and to just get together.

I got the call early on Sunday morning from another member of the cabal. His first words were, "Joe is dead". Joe was valedictorian of our high school class. He was the most intelligent person any of us knew. He was not naturally intelligent - he worked very hard and studied. He was a lawyer with experise in public utilities. After settling down, he and his girlfriend had a daughter, got married, had another daughter and were expecting their third child in a few months.

Joe was involved in a one vehicle crash at 11:30 pm on Friday in a small town about 90 minutes from his home. His vehicle missed a turn and rolled. Joe was thrown from the vehicle and sustained critical injuries. He was airlifted to a trauma center where he survived for a day on life support. He quickly died after his family decided to remove life support.

It is difficult to come to grips with Joe's death. Although this is presumptive, all of us would be surprised if alcohol were not a factor in the crash. If that proves to be the case, it only adds to the depth of this tragedy. Joe is fine, but the people he leaves behind are struggling - wondering how to help his wife and children.

In the most recent post, I wrote that death is part of life and life is part of death. It is a challenge to see that through the haze of this tragedy.