Tragic Accident Kills 3 Airline Students
 

The students were killed Friday night when the driver lost control of the SUV and it flipped several times, ejecting everyone inside. State police say all but one were wearing their seat belts. The accident happened on I-49 as the teenagers were on their way to a football game in Natchitoches.

KTBS

Very sad day
 

I have three daughters and one the same age as these girls that
where in this accident. It is hard for me to think about it more than
a few minuets with out feeling the pain and loss of the parents and
family and friends of these young ladies. My heart felt prayers go
out to the families of these children. I had a rule for my girls that
they could not drive on a interstate highway until they where 18.
Looking back I took some heat even from my wife but hard love
is just that.
Isaac

I have to 2 boys, oldest 14 going on 18 it seems.. The thought of him driving around with his friends.. scares the heck out of me. I remember being 15, 16, driving around this town... it's a miracle we all made it out alive !

A parent losing a child.. especially at such a young age.. I couldn't bear it. It's a no wonder my father had all that gray hair !

Kids Driving
 

I have two daughters, one 18 months, one due at Christmas. Hopefully some time in the next 14.5 years the driving age will be raised to thirty.

LOL YOU GOT THAT RIGHT !!

My child was 19 before they were allowed to drive out of town. The girls that were killed looked like sweet innocent girls from their pictures. It is a parent's worst nightmare. My heart goes out to the girls' families.

Sweet and Innocent
 

Have you ever seen pictures of dead children that didn't look sweet and innocent?

"Don't send the one of her confirmation, see if you can find her mug shot from when she got busted building the meth lab!"

My brother was killed in an accident in 1983. It takes about 10 years for a family to get over something like this. And "get over" is a relative term.

I hear lots of stats going around, but something few talk about is the 30k accident deaths per year. I don't have to go far to find someone whose life has been touched by a car accident.

a Real Perspective
 

As a father of one of the three children, let me assure you that there are no mugshots
Get a life and grow up before your kids do!

one tough subject
 

Man, hard to even talk about such a subject without getting caught up in it. Especially if you have children of your own.

Life is so freakin' fragile. I remember reading a few years back.. a family, it was like a few brothers and sisters and some friends all driving to freakin' CHURCH on a sunday morning... ALL got taken out by some 18 wheeler.

If that's not enough to pull one's faith right out from under their feet, I don't know what will.

Personally I think such a loss is just too much for one person (parent) to bear.
Words cannot describe my sorrow for this family. :(

October can just suck if you ask me. I say that cause I saw the passing of my brother 2 years ago this month. and 2 years before that saw the passing of my oldest brother. Some years before that my father. Each death affected me differently, but my brother who most recently passed away has absolutely been the hardest for me. Someone said it can take TEN years to get over it.. if I get over it in 20 I think I'll consider myself lucky. What keeps me going was my brothers love of life, he didn't wast a single moment, and I know he'd want us all to go on LIVING. So I give it my best.

Man this IS a tough subject.. I need a drink.

Just a tragedy. Only thing thats certain about this earthly life is that sooner or later it ends. I'll confess to being more or less obsessed with death since my father's passing back in 2000. Since then, I doubt if a single day has gone by that the subject didn't cross my mind. I've always found it the very height of cruelty that we're aware of our own mortality...how fair is that? But I know exactly what my dad would've said about it...he'd have said "who the hell ever said life was fair?", to which I would've replied "I can live with the unfairness of living, its the dying part I object to." Since we all have to die some day wouldn't it have been far kinder to not know it? Would any of us trade our sentience for that blissful ignorance? There are times when I think I would. Scant comfort can be found in the understanding that death is part of life. Thats why we have religion...because nobody wants to believe that this is all there is...that we get one shot at it, and then...oblivion...the cessation of existence. Fortunately for us, creation (Genesis) itself is proof of the existence of God, and if He exists, then ipso facto there really IS hope. Hope that there is a hereafter, where we'll be reunited with our loved ones, never to experience death again. That was His promise... and if anyone's word is worth a damn, it has to be His. If there is any solace for the living, for the survivors, this is where it will be found.

Heaven
 

I agree with Al. One thing is that religion is man made and the Bible and
Christianity is another. It is the question that drives us nuts. What is IT ?
What is life like after our soul leaves this body ? These three young ladies
where fine young ladies from there school to there work in there churches
and love of there families. I know they are home with God and are just fine.
There parents and loved ones still here in the clay shell are the ones that need our prayers.
Isaac

What a cold heart !
 

Joepole ! now that was a cold comment even from you. It is not 16 year old
4.0 student cooking up meth it is the dregs of society that do that crap.
How would you feel if someone said that about your kid ? I cant say what
I would do on this forum !!!!!!!

My heart goes out to you at this time Reedman. There is so much to say, but then at the same time, little can be said that will ease the pain of such an event. I recall many stages of "shock" followed by "denial", then "anger", and at last, profound sadness. Here it is 20 years later and I'm still not over it, and I never will be I suppose. All I can say is that it is such events that shape our character and try our souls. I have given myself no choice but to grow stronger each day until my turn comes around to prove my physical mortality. When my time comes, I hope I pass the test, and right now is the time to do something about it and work towards that goal.

God Bless you and yours Reedman. I know you will be in a lot of peoples' prayers.

Stages of Grief
 

The last stage of grief is acceptance, not sadness.

SHAME ON YOU FOR SAYING SOMETHING LIKE THAT!!!!!

I never claimed to have ever reached the final stage. This is something to strive for IMHO on a personal level. Accepting something like this without residual sadness is a measure of faith IMHO. So I guess I still have a ways to go in that regard. Maybe that is what life is all about? (Testing our belief systems?)

How would I feel
 

How would I feel if someone said I purposely chose a good photo of my dead child? Pretty much no different than if someone said anything else about the photo I chose of my dead child.

YOU ARE ONE SICK PUPPY!!!!

You apparently do not have children. Hmmmm, I wonder who you might be.

I would rather have a spelling problem
 

There is not a descent parent in the world that does feel the pain of these parents. The dreaded phone call that all parents fear so much. My spelling
and grammar may be bad but Joepole I would rather have to deal with that than be the one that kicks dirt in the face of people that have just lost the
most precious thing in there life. I am sure you said that off cuff but that does not take away the fact that these where some nice young ladies and
bad things happen to GOOD people. Joepole do you have any kids ?
Isaac

Children
 

I have two daughters.

I kicked dirt in nobody's face. I said that the previous poster's assertion that they could tell they were nice kids by their photograph was a fallacy, because of course the best photograph of them was chosen, why wouldn't it be? Not to mention what can you ever really tell about a person from a portrait?

Photos
 

You might not get much from a photo other than a face. I sure did not come away with kids that build meth labs ? If you read the paper or listen to the local news you would have known these girls where far from trouble makers.
I will grant you one thing we are all guilty of judging people by what they look
like and one photo does not tell the story but to make a statement like you did with out knowing these girls is still very cold hearted.
Isaac

Egad.. man did this thread take a turn. I know joepole was simply 'commenting'. I just think it was .. I don't know bad timing.
Other than that.. I think I'll stay away from this thread in the future.. It's really bringing me down.

Someone mentioned dreading that "phone call" or even worse, a cop and a priest showing up at your door, which is what happened to my mother. There's no two ways about, parents shouldn't have to bury their children. It's cruel. UGHH.

Jopole, you know if kids that did have meth labs were killed I would be just as sorry for their parents. Your comments were totally out of line. I was trying to make a nice comment about the girls because I did not know them personally to say something about them. The photos of the girls on the news did look like sweet innocent girls. Even if they were not sweet and innocent it still was a great tragedy.

Everything you just said
 

Everything you just said is true and my earlier comments in no way contradicted it.