So many things in life, good or bad, happen in a single instant in time.
One of my former students was driving with his girlfriend beside him in the car. I don’t know where they had been. Maybe to lunch? Shopping? A friend’s house? I don’t know.
But in an instant, a single small moment in time, he lost control of the car.
The passenger side was struck by an oncoming mini van.
The police and paramedics came.
They called for a medical helicopter.
They extricated her from the car.
They administered life support.
And then in a single, horrible instant, she was pronounced dead on the scene.
I cannot express how sorry I am for the loss of this girl’s life, a girl whom I have never even met, because this singular instant has forever changed the life of her family and that of my former student.
…
How awful. I live in fear of something happening while I am driving with my daughter or husband. It reminds you how precious and fragile life is. How it can all change in an instant.