It's amazing how a persons life can change through no fault of their own. It's amazing how a choice made can affect everyone around you. My mom called yesterday. We have a mutual friend who lives in Maine. Penny was first and mostly my mom's friend but we would all get together and go out drinking and partying. Last summer Penny came to visit, actually Penny comes to visit every summer, she usually brings herself, her daughter and lobsters. I had never seen her so happy. Everything was going so well for her. Her and her husband had just built a new house, they had a very successful business, everything was perfect. This summer no one had heard from Penny so we just assumed she was too busy to visit.

A few weeks ago a drunk driver killed two people while coming home from a friends house. The drunk driver was Penny's husband. I never knew Penny's husband well. Once we all went out together and I remember him being so funny. His accent was so cute and I remember we all went out to eat after the bar closed and we had this incredibly stupid conversation about "Fluff". We had never heard of the stuff and he was so shocked that we had never tried it. Of course us being drunk added to the whole hilarity of the conversation.

I think back to that night because that is really the only mental picture I have of him. I can't think of him as the murderer of two people. The families of those lost will always think of him that way. Penny is on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Not only has she lost her husband but she has to deal with the fact that her husband killed two people. He was driving their company vehicle when he hit them. The company is in her name and she is now being sued. I can't imagine the range of emotions she is going through right now. Her daughter is the same age as Brittany, how in the world could she possible deal with this? How does anyone get through something like this? My mom is flying down to see her. Hopefully in some small way that will help.

My heart breaks for the two people killed and for their families. Their lives were changed through no fault of their own. It is always hard to lose someone you love and care for regardless of the circumstances, but when you know it could have been prevented that must make it all the harder. My heart also breaks for my friend who in one moment had everything and again through no fault of her own has lost her husband and probably her business. The sad thing is that this tragedy will be repeated again and again. A different time, different place and different people. But somewhere out there someone who is loved by others will get behind the wheel of a car while drunk and kill someone they probably had never met before and change the lives of everyone who knows them. How sad is that?