Wednesday, October 13, 2004

I understand her anger when she says that "Someone should pay for my husband's death."

Om Asatoma Sadgamaya
Tamasoma Jyoti Gamaya
Myrityoma Amritam Gamaya

From delusion lead me to truth
From darkness lead me to light
From death lead me to eternal life.

-Hindu prayer


Traffic deaths are devastatingly hard to reconcile because they are all preventable. Because of this there is no making any sense of them, ever. This means it is hard to find the answers to the many questions we as humans so inevitably seek in these situations.

Recently David Schop (45 of Calgary) was killed in a vehicular accident in Strathcona County. RCMP believe that a stop sign was purposely removed (in an unrelated incident, maybe as a prank) from an important intersection and as such Schop, who was unfamiliar with the rural area, proceeded into a situation which tragically and ultimately saw the ending of his life.

My heart goes out to his wife, Sandra. It's not like other losses. There is something unique about losing someone in this way, about having so many questions that will remain forever unanswered, about the pain of such a terribly pointless death that burns (eternally it seems), about the desperate need to fix the unfixable, to protect the unprotectable, to punish, to avenge, anything to stop the torture inside.

As I am freshly inducted into the realm of the road bereaved I know of the torment this brings her and her family. I know it well, a constant companion, a new driving force behind my awareness, motivations and determination.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My heart still aches with the loss of my brother David Schop. I am wondering if we will Ever find out who removed the STOP sign that would have warned my bother.... If anyone knows anything about this, please email me at: debbiel.johns@sasktel.net

Thank you....

:)... missing Dave always!