Sad news on the homefront

One of my old friends from back home called me on Sat morning. I hadn't been sleeping very long at that point but Tim never ever calls me so I figured it could be important so we talked. And it sucks, but whenever I get a call like that, I brace for bad news...I'm pretty sure that's a little protective mechanism that stems from when my sis called me about my dad. In any case, I was ready this time. Tim told me that there was a real bad accident involving some members of my old club swim team, the Flushing YMCA Flyers. The team's season culminates emotionally and performance-wise every March at the YMCA State Championships. It's a weekend of a ton of fun and fast swimming that everyone looks forward to for the entire year.

This year's meet was in Buffalo NY, about an 8 hour drive from NYC. A minivan with 2 moms and 4 swimmers were making the drive up there when they apparently stopped to check on a tire. A tanker never saw them and wasn't able to stop or avoid them in time. From what I read, it was an absolutely horrible accident. The driver and 3 of the children (a 10 yo and 16 yo boy, and a 14 yo girl) were all killed instantly. The other mom and boy are hospitalized. It wasn't huge news out here, but it was all over the news back home.

The team decided to continue swimming the meet, leaving the lanes empty for where the 3 swimmers would have been. So sad. It's been years since I was in their place, but I can totally remember those trips to Y States and how tight we were as a team. Unfortunately, me and my teammates on the Flyers back then also know what it's like to lose a teammate we essentially grew up with. The 14 and 16 yo also went to my high school too so it just brings it a little closer to home for me and makes me appreciate what I've got and have been able to do a little more.

Daily News article 1
Daily News article 2
Daily News article 3
Newsday article
NY Times article 1 (you need to be signed into the NY Times site...it's free)
NY Times article 2