Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Accident.
One year.
It’s been the longest, saddest, hardest, scariest year of my family’s life, and yet, it feels like it can’t possibly be an entire year since that night.
I haven’t really written many details about the accident or the fallout from it, out of respect for my son and the other families involved. I’m holding true to that but I will share what happened:
My guy and three of his friends chose a random place in the country to hang out and party. Then they all got into my son’s truck to drive home.
He hit a huge cottonwood.
There were broken femurs, a broken jaw, a broken face, a broken neck, and several other serious injuries. Children were airlifted to other hospitals. My son was transferred from police custody to the ICU.
He was charged with 3 felony counts of vehicular assault which each carry a sentence of up to 5 years in prison. Add an aggravated DUI to that with up to a year in county jail for that one – and no, nothing could be served consecutively.
Meanwhile, his friends and their families were moving through the not so gentle aftermath of that night, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
We went through the system, and yes, it is a very slow process.
Painfully so.
When we finally got around to his sentencing we had accepted a plea agreement from the District Attorney, which keeps him out of prison as long as he adheres to demands of his probation for the next 2 years. Also at the end of that two years, he will be able to say that he is not a convicted felon.
The State owns him, which is fine with me – he fucked up – but his life will not be shaped by a felony record.
Most importantly, his three friends are alive and well.
song dog sally 