*Sigh* Where Do I Start?

I know how you all love it when I talk about my feelings.

I've been feeling extremely sentimental the past few weeks and have been especially appreciative of my family. They rock, and I wouldn't be who I am today without 'em.

It seems this all started a couple weeks ago when I was only 2-3 degrees of separation away from several tragic deaths. Last weekend, we were on our way back from Taylors Falls on Highway 95. As we were coming out of Cambridge, we came upon a huge accident, with people lying on the ground and in the back of ambulances. Less than 10 miles later we came upon this scene:

Hundreds of teenagers having some sort of memorial service. The looks on their faces are burned into my mind. It wasn't until we got home that we learned that 6 people had been killed.

One of the drivers had a 4-year-old daughter who brought a card to the crash scene that read "Dear daddy, I love you. I love my dad. I'll miss you. You were the world's best dad. I love you to the moon and back." That's some heart-wrenching shit right there. I can't imagine my daughter having to go through that.

Over the next 2 days, we learned that we had close associations to 3 more individuals who were killed in motorcycle accidents over the weekend.

So, I guess maybe "sentimental" isn't the right word to use. "Grateful" would be more appropriate. It's also made it difficult for me to spend my time doing anything the doesn't revolve around my family.

My dear, sweet Sunny-bird also recently died at the age of 17. I can't begin to describe all the things we've been through together. What a cruel trick to play on a guy...here, you can have this wonderful animal, but it will be taken away from you all too soon. Pets' lives are too short. That's really their only fault.

OK, I'm done being a sad sack now.