Tragedy

Many of you know who Adam is, Ryleigh little best bud from Sugar Mill Montessori. She and Adam started school the same week when they were both just 20 months old. They were so inseparable that they were moved to the transition class together and then the primary class. They always had very much of a love/hate relationship which the school Director kindly called competitive. If one of them learned something, the other could not stand to be outdone and so they had to learn that thing and then a step more. The last year we were in Sugar Land Adam was not who Ryleigh seemed to play with the most either inside or outside of school, but she is who she always referred to as her best friend and it is Adam whom she mentions most often since being in Canada. Three days ago Adam's dad, Dave, was killed in a tragic helicopter accident.

I remember seeing Adam's dad bringing him to school when we all first started at SMMS. He was always in raggy shorts and a t-shirt. I always wondered who this dufuss was that dropped his kid off and then obviously went back home and sat around and played video games all day. It was a few weeks later that I learned that he was the helicopter camera man for a local television station; his attire now made sense. We met Adam and his parents at the park a few times and when Adam's parents split up, we would see Dave at our church where he told us he was seeking support on how to be the best dad and ex-husband he could be. The last time we saw Dave was the day of Ryleigh's 4th birthday party at the Museum of Natural Science. Dave showed up two hours late, just as the party was ending. He had called and RSVP'd to me and only heard the 2 part of the noon-2 time I told him. It was unfortunate that Adam missed the party, but he and Ryleigh got to spend about 30 minutes just the two of them, hand in hand, looking at the dinosaurs and chatting about fossils. Dave called a few weeks later to see if we could make it to Adam's birthday, but we were already out of town and on our way to Canada.

Dave was a good guy and good dad and the world needs more like him, not one less. My heart is aching for Adam. I hope that somehow, someday he knows just how much his dad loved him and wanted the best for him. I've been trying for the past two days to wrap my mind around this tragedy and there just isn't a way to make sense of it. All we can do is hold her kids a little tighter and show our spouses a little more kindness because we don't know the hour or the day, but we do know that time is fleeting and that today is what matters the very most.