YOUR CHOICE

[Heather]

Marty there will always be those that don't give a s... and are repeat offenders - possibly drug or alcohol involved or just idiots. You're right, they may never learn or care and in the meantime we are all in danger with them on the roads.

Sometimes, however, teenagers do stupid things - they think they are invincible. Boys skylark, girls tend to text or use the phone when driving (they still do it even though it is illegal here in Vic) and they can pay a high price for their stupid irresponsible behaviour.

The average teenager learns the hard way when one of their friends or peers dies in a car accident. Recently an 18 year old local girl died on her way back from a B & S ball somewhere in NSW. She swerved to avoid a kangaroo, rolled and was killed. She'd had her license 3 days. Front passenger in a coma for a time; back seat passenger not a scratch. Deaths like this one reverberate throughout a small community.

Heather

[Leonie]

I love Billy Joel, and his song 'Shades of Grey' has always touched a chord with me.
Everything was black and white when I was younger (and knew everything ) but now ..

I particularly like these lines...
"And the only people I fear
are those who never have doubts"

and the chorus isn't too shabby either ...
Shades of grey wherever I go
The more I find out the less that I know
Black and white is how it should be
But shades of grey are the colors I see

Could be my mantra, I try not to be too judgemental. I don't always succeed. I tend to be rather judgemental of people who are too judgemental.

[Zondrae]

G'day Leonie,

Someone said.. (I have no idea who) that it was amazing how much their parents had learned and he/she had forgotten between when he/she was 16 and 30.

[Dave Smith]

Granddaughter Mine.

Nineteen years and just in her prime,
Tragically taken, before her time.
Her time with us was way to short,
Her not to be here was never a thought.

A Nanna’s grief deep and two fold,
The daughter she’s to comfort and hold.
The gorgeous girl she help’t to train,
The granddaughter; she’ll not see again.

In our grief the memory stirs,
For the future that will not be hers,
To look up and find she’s not there,
We miss the children she will not bear.

Pops are meant to be tough and bold,
Watch and protect all those in his fold.
Gone with no chance to say good-bye,
I see her still through tears in my eye.




Dave Smith ©
July 2010

[Bob Pacey]

Oh Dave simple but to the point. I lost a nephew who was a police officer in Mackay to a tragic traffic accident and can still see the look on my older brothers face at the funeral. Thank goodness been spared any such grief and rue the day I get that call.

A fitting tribute

Cheers Bob

[manfredvijars]

How Do I Say Goodbye?
(For Michael 1981 - 1999)
(c) 2005 M. Vijars

From sensibility deviated,
so a life's abbreviated.
A blink of an eye and you were gone.
Light snuffed out where once it shone -
... so brilliantly.

With no relief I gasped and heaved.
To lose one whom I had conceived
and in whose absence I'm aggrieved;
Oh, so, so utterly bereaved -
... and devastated.

"It was God's will". They all tried
to tell me but I know they lied.
It wasn't God's hand there inside
Upon that wheel so firmly plied -
... unto death.

You gave us almost eighteen years,
Lots of joy, and sometimes tears
we worked together through your fears
that headed into new careers -
... and now you're gone.

I’m saddened by grandkids denied
for things we now cannot confide
to share your growth and what's implied
and see you standing tall with pride -
... for a life well lived.

Yes, still there’s times I need to cry.
I think of you and give a sigh;
No longer ponder reasons why.
So, just how do I say goodbye? -
... I don’t!
---

[Dave Smith]

Goodonya MATE.

[Neville Briggs]

That's unimaginable heartbreak Manfred. I agree with you, glib explanations just don't work.

[Maureen K Clifford]

Geez this got a bit of conversation going Mates didn't it.

Dave and Manfreds contributions are particularly poignant

This is one of the reasons that this kind of idiocy makes me so angry - the far reaching and long lasting effects, that time softens but never really heals....lives changed forever in a split second. Sorry folks if it stirred up bad memories..please forgive..that was never the intent.

Cheers

Maureen

[Dave Smith]

She’s right Maureen I felt I needed to make a comment and thought the best way to repost my poem.