On June 8, 1996, this was my family. I had three children, 16, 13, and 10. In fact, my boys had both celebrated their birthdays not too many days before I picked them up. I have tried to get in the habit of getting pictures taken because of the fact that I rarely see them and when I do, I don't see them for very long. On the day that this picture was taken, we had just rented a car and were planning to make a drive to Texas so that my kids could see where I worked and lived. I thought they would like that.

The picture that is here, was taken at the end of September 1997. There is a glaring deficiency in this picture. What is missing is my son, Troy. Less then a month after the first picture was taken, there was a car wreck. A car wreck that left my oldest son in a coma for three days fighting for his life. It will probably also be responsible for more problems in my son's already complex life. Evidently, there have been personality changes since the wreck.

Also, my daughter received several injuries that have caused her problems since the wreck. Not the least of which is her brother's death. Her brother, Troy, was killed instantly. Two families, out to enjoy the day, it was the Fourth of July, and it all ended in a tragedy. Troy's uncle was killed. He was the father of three children, all under 5, Troy was killed, the youngest of three in his family. When my daughter woke up, she had no idea of what had happened. I thank God that she still doesn't remember anything. But one thing that she does remember is that her little brother is dead.

I love my son very much. I love my children very much. One of the hardest questions to answer after a parent has lost a child is how many children do you have? Do I say three...to say three is to fool myself that everything is ok...that my son Troy wasn't killed by a drunk driver. Do I say two...if I say two, then I am denying his very existence. My vow to myself, and to anyone reading this page, is to fight a battle. I want to fight a battle against the totally cavalier attitude that seems to come with the area of drinking and driving. Too many people truly believe that what happened to the driver that killed Troy will never happen to them. They would never drink so much that something like that could happen. No one ever plans something like that. They think that nothing like that could happen to their family. Nothing REALLY bad happens to them...it always happens to someone else. I am here to tell you that it can happen to you.

Well, I don't want to run on too much more. If you want to know a little bit more about me and Troy, come visit my home page. Or if you would just like to drop me a line, email me. I will respond to anyone that writes me. I want to thank Sagasha for providing me with this opportunity. I look forward to chatting with the people that visit this site.

Family's Memorial Page