Pall of Darkness

Nobody wants to start their weekend out like this.

This morning, while I was travelling down the interstate on my way to work, the flow of traffic went from about 80mph to a dead stop. I sat still on the road for probably a good 5 to 7 minutes, and then started crawling along at a snail's pace. I literally could have walked faster than I was driving.

I started to curse the idiots that were responsible for the traffic mess , but something told me that I ought to hold my tongue. Nearly twenty minutes and a half-mile later, I passed by the source of our traffic congestion.

The two cars involved were barely recognizable. Completely smashed to hell, with a sheet draped over one of the cars.

It was over, just like that. Somebody's husband or wife, son or daughter... or even worse... father or mother, was gone. There were two fatalities in that accident.

Can you hear that distant sound? It's the sound of the whole world crashing down around the family and friends of those people who died. The horrifying thought is: They don't even know yet.

These people could have children, whose biggest worry at the moment is a pop quiz in math in 15 minutes. That is all about to change.

The family and friends are shortly going to learn about the mechanics of dying... the process of insurance, of obituaries, of choosing caskets and burial plots, of funerals, of burials... a thousand different questions to be answered at a time when you least want to answer them... of sorting out their lives and memories, of raw emotion boiling to the surface at unexpected times, of getting on with their lives...

Nobody wants to start their weekend out like this. But some people are now, and my thoughts and prayers are with them.

*Update*

The accident was caused when a car from the northbound lanes swerved, crossed the median and hit another car head-on in the southbound lanes. Both drivers were killed instantly.

I was approximately 30 seconds behind the car that was hit. It makes me really reflect on the value of 30 seconds...

Look here and here for details...