Jan 18th 1995 was the worst day of my life....this was the day my two nieces were killed by a drunk driver. I received a phone call from one of my sisters (she assumed that I already knew), she was crying. By the time I was able to figure out what she was saying I was devastated. They were so young, Jessie was 10 and Samantha was 12 (her birthday was three days later). They had been skiing with there parents and were on their way home when they were struck from behind by a pick-up truck. My brother and his wife were injured but not seriously and the two little blond angels were killed on impact. I didn't know these little ones as well as I would have like to as they lived a fair distance from me, but I loved them dearly. I can best explain how much it hurts at their loss by this poem that I wrote in their memory:
We know that you are with us but still we miss you, your Happy bright faces, the touch of your hands, your laughter, your Love, the joy that each of you brought into our lives will never Be forgotten.
We will go on, but there will be an emptiness, a void where once There was so much, now there is so little, we must find a way to Remember all that you gave us, so that may once again feel the Joy.
Reach out to us Sam and Jessie we need to know that you are there, Perhaps the touch of a soft summer breeze, the gentle fall of the Rain, the birth of a new life, each of these things will tell us you Are with us.
You each touched our lives in ways that only we know, we will Grieve for our loss, and thank God each day for having known And loved you, even though life must go on, the world will be a Little less brighter.
We loved you in life and now that you are gone you will live in Our hearts forever, for you are our PRECIOUS TREASURES.
Deb Leonard
