Written a few days back by my dear friend, Gloria, over in New Jersey. Her only child, Peter, was killed by a drunk driver when he was just 22 years old. He was smashed through a brick wall. Several other young people with him suffered brain damage. The young man who killed her son lives just a few streets away. He served only a few years in prison and is now back with his family. He has never apologized nor made any contact with Gloria and Charlie.



'10 years ago today'

"10 years ago today the sun fell from the sky. The stars dripped down into tears and the moon turned blue. The light of our lives, our darling Peter was taken from us and we have been waiting ever since for it to come back.

Throughout the last 10 years we have heard his sneakers crunch in the snow, watched him walk in the spring rain, seen his smile in the warmth of the summer and heard his breath as the days grew shorter in the fall but nothing, absolutely nothing, helped.

We wait, and we wait, for the pain to end, the smile to return, the life to come back to our lives all the while knowing we are waiting for things that will never happen, but we do it anyway. It's all we can do, have to do.

For everyone else the world has moved on, as it should, their lives have changed, which they should, and the memories became beautiful thoughts for them, as it should be, but for us, the world stopped, the memories became stained with heartache, and we died along with our son.

We are now are the "new" people we have become, sometimes almost unrecognizable. Along with losing Peter we lost our futures. Never seeing Peter become the amazing man he would have been, never seeing him meet that special someone, a wedding, grandchildren and one day either Charlie or I will have to face this world completely alone.

We are the collateral damage of what happened to our son.

We know out there somewhere is someone who was supposed to say they were sorry a long time ago. It may have held some importance to us then, but never now.

So, we go back to waiting, it's what we do best.

We will continue to look for Peter everywhere every chance we get. We will pray and cry in private and we will continue to live for and love our Peter more than ever. Peter was, is and always will be our lives. Peter was, is and always will be our hope. Peter was, is and always will be our son. Peter was, is and always will be our love. Peter was, is and always will be.

Petey, we will love you as long as there is time. We wish that God would have asked for one of us to take your place which we would have done in a heartbeat so you could stay here and bless the earth with your smile, your love and your grace.

We will hold you the only way we can until our arms can no longer move. As long as we have one breath left, we will speak your name, and we will always be mommy, daddy and Petey.

We will love you forever.

REMEMBER LOVE

REMEMBER PETE"