Well, it’s May.

My least favorite time of year. Every year.

No matter how hard I try to focus on new flowers and growing lambs and little boy dimples and fresh asparagus frittata..my mind endlessly circles back to those last weeks before that day…

 That day, that changed the meaning of all the days that came before.

That day, that changed the shape of all the days that will ever come after.

That day, that drew a line in the sands of time for our family.

That day, that sliced through our timeline and forever created our life before and our life after.

That day, that happened simply because “I didn’t see them.”

There has never been more. My mind can twist and turn and plot and plan and relive it over and over again from all the medical and police reports. But it was simply a case that someone “didn’t see them.”

Someone’s careless driving changed the course of our entire family story.  Forever.

Someone failed to “look twice, save a life”–and I became an orphan at 27. A motherless mother when the Ladybug was only 15 months old.

There will never be any pictures of my parents holding my boys.

There will never be any pictures of my parent’s 30th, 40th, 50th wedding anniversary.

My parents will never see my children graduate from kindergarten, from high school, from college.

Never celebrate another birthday with us.

Never share another Christmas with us. A new job, a new home, a new lamb…

There will forever be a hole in every day of our lives.

Simply because “I didn’t see them.”

 May is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month.

Did you know that motorcyclists are 30 times more likely to be killed in a roadway accident than someone in a passenger car?*

And 5 times more likely to be serious injured.*

Motorcycle deaths have increased every year for 13 of the past 14 years. Motorcycle fatalities in 2011 accounted for more than 14% of total highway deaths for the year, even though motorcycles account for only 3% of all vehicle registrations in the U.S. And this despite of the fact that use of DOT-compliant motorcycle helmets increased significantly in the same period–up from 54% in 2010 to 66% in 2011!*

Motorcycles have the same rights and privileges and responsibilities as any other users on the road–but they are undoubtedly more vulnerable than other users.

My parents had done absolutely nothing wrong. They were in their own lane. They were wearing helmets. They were traveling at a safe speed and in a safe manner. They were simply on their way home from picking up dinner at the grocery store.

They were simply the victims of a careless mistake.

I have a hard thing to ask you today.

Will you help me be courageous, and share these words?

This week–This month–TODAY…will you share our story?

Will you tell people that this month is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month?

Will you tell people that you know someone suffering the after-effects of careless driving, and no one deserves that?

Will you tell people that those riders are friends, loved ones, mothers and fathers, and grandparents? Sons and daughters, lawyers and doctors and plumbers and cashiers and engineers and lobbyists and soldiers, just another fellow human being, and please be careful?

Will you say to them–For the love of all we hold dear–let us not be the careless mistake!

We all need to take greater responsibility for the safety of those around us.

• Look twice. Three times even. Someone’s life is worth an extra 10 seconds.
• Use signals properly. And respect other driver’s signals.
• Respect lane space. Motorcycles are more affected by changes in road conditions and need the additional maneuvering room to protect themselves.
• Use safe travel distances. You don’t know when the vehicle in front of you might blow a tire, hit some gravel, or jump and hit the brakes because the phone rings. Then triple that if you’re behind a motorcycle.

 

Truly, it’s the least you can do.

 

*National Highway Safety Administration–Motorcycle Safety

*Traffic Safety Marketing–Share the Road Motorcycle Safety Month 2013

*Virginia Department of Health–May is National Motorcycle Safety Awareness Month

*Virginia DMV Motorcycle Division

*Virginia Coalition of Motorcyclists