In memory of...

It's really a small world we live in and communities really come together when calamity hits. Just a few days ago, a friend of my son's was killed in a car accident which not only cost her, her life, but also 2 other people riding in the car with her.

Her name is Courtney Stewart. Courtney and David graduated together and had also attended a few school functions together. She was an incredibly beautiful young girl with such a bright future. She was a likeable young girl and was one of his first friends after we moved to Claremont.

This is what happened, shortly after the Angels game, she and her friends had just left her apartment in Fullerton, California and were heading to a bar to meet other friends around 12:30 am. A drunk driver ran a light and hit them. She was killed instantly, her friend, Angel Pitcher Nick Adenhart died later as well as another baseball player from Cal State Fullerton.

There is just no way to understand this kind of horrific accident. The drunk driver who police said had a suspended license and a previous drunk driving conviction blew through a red light at 50 to 60 mph and struck the Eclipse which Courtney was driving. The entire top of the car was taken off. The drunk driver, Andrew Thomas Gallo, 22, of Riverside is charged with three counts of murder, three counts of vehicular manslaughter, felony hit-and-run and felony driving under the influence of alcohol.

This incident has caused me to feel much fear for my children and their safety. There could be a good case made that being out on the roads late at night is unsafe. One never knows who is coming down the road and when our own lives might end as a result. Drinking and driving is wrong and I have no problem with the murder charges against Gallo. In fact I am a supporter of these charges; something has to be done to stop this, something serious enough to make these people stop killing themselves and or others!