Milestones

I've been meaning to write about milestones for a couple days now.  Milestones, as in "rites of passage" or "life events" and the like.  Big or small, we all have these things in our lives that we measure our time by.  Even if its just Monday again (comin' around every week), or a birthday/anniversary - the good things that recurring milestones can be.  Other times, they mark things we would prefer to "disremember". The death of a loved one. The loss of a friend. A bad choice that can haunt us in our later days.  All milestones.

Here; in our smallish, conservative, midwestern spot on the earth, we are reminded of another milestone that comes around almost every year.  The deaths of 2 teenagers over the weekend in an alcohol related accident hits pretty close to home:
1. I have an almost-driver.
2. I have an alcoholic husband, who THANK GOD, has never killed anyone.
3. My co-workers grew up with the parents of one of the teens.

This kind of tragic event inevitably seems to happen in one or more of the school districts in our (EVERY) area this time of the year.  No, alcohol is not always involved.  Yes, teens who believe they are invincible are.  Whether its prom, graduation, or just first-long-weekend-of-the-summer, this season seems to bring accidents like this.  We have all "been-there, done-that". We have all thought it would never happen to us.  If I had to guess (no hard stats here) 90% of us have made the same bad choices as the kids involved in this accident. But, BY GOD'S GRACE, we are still here to look back at those choices - those milestones in our lives if you will - and hope that we can pass along the knowledge we LEARNED from those lapses in judgement to our own kids before its too late!  The things we did... <shudder> ... unfortunately, kids will be kids - and they ALL go through the "invincible" stage. No parent should have to loose a child this way. My heart aches for everyone involved in this accident, and for all those who mourn the loss of these 2 kids.  My hope is that they knew the Lord.  I didn't know them. But God did. And he was with them every minute of their lives.  I hope they knew that.  I know my kids know. My prayers are with the driver of the car. No matter the legal ramifications of his actions - his life is forever changed. This milestone in his life is one he will never escape.  And, this anniversary, is one the families of these kids will struggle with forever. They have my prayers too.

The one-time milestones: graduation, first day of school, first tooth lost, first love/broken heart, wedding, first child... I could go on and on, and I'm sure you all have things you can add to this list.  These are the things we measure our days with.  I hope that your milestones are good ones.  That these good milestones outweigh the tragic results of bad decisions.