A wound that can never heal.

Deep in my heart, there lies a place that is still so raw and tender.

The wound re-opens every time I hear of another instance of a life (or lives) taken too soon under the most heinous of circumstances.

I can understand that car accidents happen several times an hour throughout the world. I can understand that car accidents cause approximately 100 deaths a day in the United States. What I cannot understand is why someone who has caused an accident feels the need to flee the scene. Whether it involves a family walking across a busy city intersection or a young man driving home from a weeknight gathering with friends, I just don’t get it.

I don’t know the family involved in the Denver accident tonight…or at least I hope I don’t. It would make it all so much worse if I did.

I knew the young man involved in the February 2, 2004 accident and that is why I still have a place that is so raw and tender. That is why I don’t get it…and that is why that place in my heart aches every time I hear of someone escaping the scene of tragedy.