A year ago today

It was a year ago today that my family's life changed dramatically.  Middle of the afternoon on a bright and sunny July 19th in the year 2009.  I'd picked up groceries, gotten myself my daily $tarbuck$ and come back home to find the police officers parked outside the house.  The news they passed along wasn't anything I'd ever have expected or wanted to hear, though the blow was softened in finding out that it was just my wife in the vehicle and that my daughter wasn't with her.

My daughter had gone to the same friend's birthday party over this past weekend, spending the night there.  She was supposed to have a ride home from there, but because we were going out car shopping and she'd woken up early enough she sent me a text message to tell me that if I wanted to, I could come pick her up early.  On the way to picking her up I saw the same tow truck in the opposing lanes, apparently headed out on a call though I have no way of knowing for sure.  I had to resist the temptation to give the single finger salute to the tow truck driver as he passed me.  If I had, he'd probably have wondered who I was and just what he'd done to deserve it since we've never met in person (that I'm aware of) so he likely doesn't have a clue who I am and why I might feel I have a right to be hostile to him whenever we pass.

We never got any sort of apology from him though no one in my family went to court when he had his day in traffic court.  We were welcome there if we wanted to go, and the States' attorney made it clear we were welcome to address the court but I didn't see anything to be gained from doing so.  The writing was already on the wall as to where the court would go with the charges and what sort of plea arrangement was getting made.  Given that the truck driver had a lawyer representing him, and that a civil case was still a big potential, he likely would have been advised to not say anything that was not required as part of his own court case.  Even with that potential gone now, we've still heard nothing.  Again, we likely never will.

I took my kids out for a late lunch/early dinner today and then we all went to the park where we donated a tree in my wife's honor.  A former co-worker of my wife's came along to the park and visited with my daughter.  The tree is growing nicely and seems to be thriving.  The plaque was clear of grass and debris and easy to find and read.  We continue to hope that visitors to the park read my wife's words and ponder why she had chosen to write them.

Over the long haul the significance of this date for my family may fade, but for now the date is fresh enough to easily remember.  Soon, I'll make another donation in her honor to one of her favorite charities.  Much the same as the ads for Muscular Dystrophy note, as well as for the American Cancer Society and other charities, I hope the future also brings a lot of advancement in the area of that favored charity (Autism Speaks) and that the money that had been going there can find its way to other charities where cures for other things can be found.