Last night..............

[Simply Me]

Last night I took a 8 year old girl and her 12 year old brother to the morgue. Last night I held the mother in my arms as she cried and screamed at me, calling me a liar. Last night I watched the father hit the floor as he realized his world had been taken from him. Last night I watched a drunk driver being taken up to the unit, with minimal injuries and feeling no pain due to the morphine he had been given. Last night I hated being a nurse..

I'm not going to get on my soapbox about this, there is enough information and statistics out there for people to be able to make intelligent decisions when it comes to drinking. Just not sure what happens to that intelligence once the partying begans. I came home this morning and went into my 19 year old daughters room and stood looking at her, knowing what that mother and father felt last night. How I would curl up in a fetal position and die should I lose my children. And how I could so easily take the life of a drunk driver that killed them. I'm sure this man is probably a good man, maybe a very productive member of society , but in my eyes the minute he chose to get behind the wheel while intoxicated, he became scum.

I feel really sad this morning, wondering what the parents are doing now. What they will have to do the next few day, picking out coffins to bury their children. Knowing they will never know what they would have looked like as teenagers, the missed proms, the first date, the first time they fell in love, the broken hearts. That man not only took the life of those innocent beautiful children, he also took away this couples dreams of ever being called Granpa and Grandma, so much loss. All because one man thought he was sober enough to drive.

I will only say to everyone, please, dont drink and drive. It doesnt just affect you.. I feel really sad this morning and I felt the need to put into words what I am feeling..

Now I'm going to go wake my daughter up and take her out for breakfast, and remind her how much I love her and remind myself how lucky I have been not to have had to experience that pain..and pray I never will..and that none of you will. Thanks for letting me vent..

 

[KillerMuffin]

Sometimes, amidst the bickering and daily living, we forget what's important to us and take it for granted that it will always be there.

Wake-up calls like that tear you apart.

 

[Flagg]

That's made my hangover even worse.

The world needs more people like you Simply Me. I have nothing but the upmost admiration for those in your profession.

 

[Xander]

Complete and deep felt respect to you Simply Me.

 

[Beebeeblue]

Myabe its just my mood this morning, but your post almost made me cry. It is sad that there are those that become victims when one chooses to drink and drive.

 

[Cheyenne]

This one needs to be read by more people. Back to the top.

 

[Ask For More]

A very profound message....just reminds me of some of the things i've seen when I was growing up.

See my neighbourhood is surrounded my council estates....when we first moved in it was a nice place and cheap; but mainly for working class people like us.
In england council estates are basically free housing for people who can't afford mortgages and so on.

So when I was young I knew a lot of underpriveleged people. I had a friend who was a father at 14, a friend who's abusive father left the household when he was very young, and who's mother didn't give a crap about him. She had a baby girl when he was about 14 and he cared the world for her, but his mother kicked him out of the house and he hasn't seen her for five years. Last time I saw him he was getting over drug addicition and staying in the YMCA.

I've had a friend commit suicide because he couldn't cope with the pressure of being in a top university. The work was tough, and he had trouble fitting in there, and eventually took his own life by jumping out of a five storey window after storming out of an exam. And I had promised myself that I would call him just a couple of days before to wish him luck. If only I had made that call instead of just leaving it.

This is way too depressing...i think i'd better stop.

 

[cymbidia]

I understand how you feel. The naked gratitude that your daughter is whole and healthy and alive, and will remain so, wars ferociously with the pain of tragedy you were so intimately a part of. It serves to makes you a more deeply compassionate person, having to come to terms with this kind of horrible juxtaposition of emotions.

 

[batter]

SimplyMe..i admire a person who holds a job such as yours. it takes a special person with compassion to handle situations such as the one you described.
we seem to take things for granted until such times as these.
the truly sad part is as you describe, the drunk driver had minimal injuries, and the true victims are the loved ones the deceased leaves behind. the driver gets some jail time, but that does not do justice to the crime. people may say the driver will live with this for the rest of their life, but what of friends and families of the deceased?
there is no guarantee this person will not drink and drive again and repeat the scene again.
i worked with a fellow of 20 who did the same thing, he drank and drove home, and on the way he hit a young girl who was walking her bike across the street. he got some jail time and probation. she lost her life.
at times like this, life just does not seem fair does it.
thankyou SimplyMe and to all others out there like you who deal with these situations on a daily basis to try and bring a little compassion and caring at very difficult times.

 

[DevilMayCare]

My heart goes out to you SimplyMe. Most of us for most of our lives are immune from the kind of tragedy you confront daily in your job. We get pulled up short when we are close to the person who is killed, or suddenly comes down with an incurable disease, or is severely injured in an accident. Its easy to overlook the consequences of our actions, to take unconscionable risks because we don't consider the possibility of tragedy. You see it, day in and day out in all its ugly forms. Thank you for sharing with us your experience.

I visited a large convalescent hospital and during the tour I visited a ward filled with people in a persistent vegetative state. It was one large room with beds lining every wall. I walked around the room, peering at the lifeless faces of men and women being kept alive by feeding tubes and IV drips. All of them appeared to be sleeping, but some were marked with deformity that comes with lying for years in a bed, arms drawn up, fingers and wrists pulled down. When I asked the physician giving the tour what had happened to these people he said almost everyone was a victim of an auto accident or motorcycle accident. I recalled seeing the young men in one bed with his skull partially crushed.

Death and tragedy are all around us. Its good to know that so that we can express love to those we care about, as SimplyMe is doing with her daughter in the morning. We can appreciate the precious moments we're being given. We think we're immortal, especially when we're young. But we're not!

I love this quote from a card I've carried around for more years than I can remember -

Choose life, only that and always, and at whatever risk.
To let life leak out, to let it wear away by the mere
passage of time, to withhold giving it or spreading it,
is to choose nothing.

I'm not always able to do that, but it seems a worthy goal to aspire toward. And SimplyMe, I applaud your courage for going to that job each day and taking care of what needs to be cared for. Thank you.

 

[Merelan]

Amen.

 

[Simply Me]

I just wanted to thank all of you for your kind words and encouragement. I'm feeling a little better about things this morning, just wish I could get their faces out of my head, but I know they will always be there, as are all of the victims I have seen. On a happy note, twins were born in the E.R. last night, two girls, absolutely precious. Mother and babies doing great. Dad walking around with that " OMG, those are mine, now what do I do?" look. lol.
Makes one understand the song.." The circle of life"...

 

[TygerEyez]

Prom Night

I went to a party, Mom, I remembered what you said.
You told me not to drink, Mom, so I drank soda instead.

I really felt proud inside, Mom, the way you said I would.
I didn't drink and drive, Mom, even though the others said I should.

I know I did the right thing, Mom, I know you are always right.
Now the party is finally ending, Mom, as everyone is driving out of sight.

As I got into my car, Mom, I knew I'd get home in one piece.
Because of the way you raised me, so responsible and sweet.

I started to drive away, Mom, but as I pulled out into the road,
the other car didn't see me, Mom, and hit me like a load.

As I lay there on the pavement, Mom, I hear the policeman say,
the other guy is drunk, Mom, and now I'm the one who will pay.

I'm lying here dying, Mom. I wish you'd get here soon.
How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon.

There is blood all around me, Mom, and most of it is mine.
I hear the medic say, Mom, I'll die in a short time.

I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn't drink.
It was the others, Mom. The others didn't think.

He was probably at the same party as I.
The only difference is, he drank and I will die.

Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life.
I'm feeling sharp pains now. Pains just like a knife.

The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, and I don't think it's fair.
I'm lying here dying and all he can do is stare.

Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave.
And when I go to heaven, Mom, put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave

Someone should have told him, Mom, not to drink and drive.
If only they had told him, Mom, I would still be alive.

My breath is getting shorter, Mom. I'm becoming very scared.
Please don't cry for me, Mom. When I needed you, you were always there.

I have one last question, Mom, before I say good bye.
I didn't drink and drive, so why am I the one to die?



Sorry guys. But the post just made me think of this poem. It makes me cry everytime, because I know people who were killed in car accidents. If you drink, at least don't drive. It's not worth the ticket, the fines, or the lives.

~*Nicci*~

 

[CoolCucumber]

Ok...I read this last night, and it made me sad. Then I read it again today, and it made me mad. Maybe being in a college town and seeing all of the people who don't realize how dumb they're being on a nightly basis, putting themselves, and others at risk...
-CoolCucumber

 

[Hecate]

nothing I can say - stand and stare - and pray to never find myself in the shoes of any of the parties involved

 

[ShyGuy68]

Simply me that was truely at touching post!

When reading something like this, it should make us realize how important it is to tell those people that you care for in life how important they are, since you never know what tomorrow will bring!