0720/2013

   As we were heading back home that night following the memorial service we had to again pass through the intersection where the accident occurred. This time there were lots of people gathered on the median holding candles, placing flowers, balloons, posters, stuffed animals, etc. These were people who had been friends and classmates of our son and his friends. They were already banding together to mourn and console each other. This became a touchstone location, especially for the young people, to share their feelings and connect with each other. At one point during this period, after we'd been told that some of them were even staying there all night, we felt compelled to go to the corner and express our deepest appreciation for all their love and support, but that we wished they wouldn't be there so long, especially after dark. That intersection was very busy with traffic, and some drivers, as we knew so well, weren't as careful as they should be when going through the intersection. We expressed to them that we didn't want any other family to go through what we were experiencing because they were there on the median. On this night, however, we just continued on home. It had been one of the longest, most gut-wrenching, worst days of my life. We now knew what mortuary would be in charge of the preparations and where our son was to be buried. We still didn't firmly have in place the where, when, who, or what factors for Curtis's funeral services. There was still much to be done, and we would soon have more family arriving. Normally, I always looked forward to weekends, but I knew that this weekend would be nowhere close to normal. What had been normal was now gone forever.