It's been 3 years...

This is actually kind of a hard blog to post, but I just want to get it out. It's Thanksgiving time and I have so much to be thankful for. Sadly, this is one of the hardest times in the year for me, when I let myself slow down and remember. I usually try to work as much as I can, eat some turkey and sleep A LOT, just so the memories don't make me melancholic.

Three years ago when I was still in college, down in Georgia, my favorite uncle - Donald Storms - was killed in a car accident on his way home from work. I got the call that night from my parents. I remember I had just got home from work at the Movie Gallery, I was sitting in our kitchen waiting for my roommates to get home from their assorted activities. My cell phone started ringing and it was my dad, he asked me to sit down and remember that he loved me. I couldn't stop crying. My roommates showed up about 20 minutes later and i was laying on the floor in the kitchen, with all the lights out, sobbing and shaking. They consoled me the best the could, but I just ended up locking myself in my room for the next few days and calling off work. My Statistics professor alerted someone in Administration about the situation and I was given a plane ticket, very last minute, to fly to Pittsburgh the day before the funeral, to be with my family through it all. Unfortunately, holiday traffic on the way to the airport was outrageous, and I missed my flight by about 15 minutes. I stayed overnight and tried to fly standby the next morning, but couldn't get on any flights. I was heartbroken. Saturday night, November 19, 2005.

Three of my 4 roommates (we had a house) left to go home for Thanksgiving break the day I got back from the airport in tears. I put a note on my door saying goodbye to everyone and I'm sorry, but I didn't want to talk to anyone. One of them, Mary Angela Jones (pictured above), never came back. She was in a pretty horrific car accident while driving the few hours back home with her brother, and she was killed instantly, while Jake was in the hospital for awhile afterwards with some pretty serious injuries. Wednesday, November 23, 2005.

Thanksgiving was pretty awful that year. My entire house, with a few close friends for support, made the drive to Eastman, Georgia for Mary's funeral. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done.

I do my best to remember all the good times with Mary and Uncle Don, instead of dwelling on the fact that they're gone. They are in a much better place, up in heaven with Jesus and I am thankful that both their deaths were quick and immediate. Uncle Don's wife, Beth, died when I was really young, and now he gets to be with her. I miss them both, and this time of year just brings back a lot of memories.