Forever changed

Things happen in our lives so quickly. Sometimes it happens so quickly, we are caught unprepared. In fact, none of us are ever prepared to hear that a tragedy has come to our family.

Last night, seven cheerleaders from an area school were returning home after a gymnastics training in a near by town. They didn't make it home and some will never return home. Three of those girls were killed and the others are in the hospital. A deceased cousin's granddaughter is among those in the hospital in serious condition and undergoing surgery today. And, one of the dead girls was kin to my beautician's family. Her oldest daughter is a teacher at this particular school and went to the hospital last night to be with the children who wanted to go. She called her Mom at midnight to tell her there had been a tragic accident on their highway and the first thing my beautician wanted to know was 'which one was it', thinking it was one of her teenage grandchildren. Our biggest fear, when we get those calls is that it is one of our own. It is always someone's loved child.

We never know when that phone will ring late at night to tell us that something has happened to a person we love. These families said goodbye to their girls yesterday morning when they left for school. Some were able to hold and comfort their girls today at the hospital. But, others will never be able to say I love you to those girls again on this side of heaven. It will be a sad Christmas for all these families.

As you read the article on these girls, please pray for them, their families, and friends. Also pray for the cheerleaders and all the friends in this high school who will have to deal with this for a long time to come. This has 'forever changed' their young lives. It is hard for adults to handle these situations, but much worse when a child loses someone close to them with whom they have grown up.

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