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| © Mark Hammon, January 1992: His friend, 14 year old DUI victim Mark Engle, enters the ‘pearly gates’ |
A Visual Exercise
Picture...the son or daughter toward whom you have a special afinity, who respects you as a person as well as a parent, who can rejoice when you rejoice, who can empathize with your sorrow. A child with whom you can converse on any subject, and from whom you learn as much as s/he does from you. A child with whom you can be yourself, who accepts you as you are and works in tandem with your expectations. A bright, witty, intelligent, fun person to be with.
Now, picture...this son or daughter struck violently from behind by a pickup, thrown into a mailbox, soaring into the air, and landing face-down into rough forest growth—and not moving.
Picture...having to find the “right” coffin for your child, imagining how s/he will look inside any box.
Picture...struggling to stay afloat in the days, weeks, and years that follow. You realize you are no longer a whole person. A part of your heart has been ripped out, a part of your soul gone.
These pictures are not just a visual exercise for me. I had to live them. My son Mark Engle was killed by an alcohol-impaired pickup driver on December 31, 1991. All DUI-caused crashes are preventable through driver awareness and waiting a sufficient amount of time after drinking before driving.
Your Thoughts
How have these Zero Tolerance For DUI web pages affected you?
Here are some letters from our readers.