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Editor's note: This is the first in a series of columns about the Citrus County Teen Driving Task Force. The second installment will appear in next Sunday's Commentary section.
Memorial Day weekend started out as a joyous occasion. Our daughter Melissa had just graduated from Citrus High School and had the world at her fingertips. As graduates who just made a giant step toward independence, Melissa and her peers were on top of the world.
It was a weekend of graduation parties and euphoria.
And it ended abruptly in the worst way imaginable.
It was a Sunday afternoon of relaxing by the pool for my wife Lori and me. We felt good. We were so proud of Melissa as she graduated with nearly a 3.5 grade point average and was already enrolled to begin college in the fall. She wanted to be a teacher. She loved working with kids and it was something we encouraged her to do. Everywhere Melissa went, a trail of smiles was left in her wake.
The dedicated staff with the Citrus County Schools Food Service Division loved her. She was offered full-time work over the summer, after completing a successful internship. She was also in love with her boyfriend Tyler Horton, who graduated with her.
Melissa and all her friends were good kids. They knew how to have fun. Her best friend since they were toddlers, Molly Paquin, also interned for the school system and was continuing over the summer.
After Melissa and Tyler went to church with my wife's parents that Sunday morning, they decided to meet later on after she and Molly went to Ocala to buy new clothes for work with their graduation winnings.
They never came home.
Tyler came by around 6:30 p.m. or so and was worried. He had talked to Melissa while she was on her way back from Ocala and they were all to meet up around 7 at the local bowling alley. The conversation ended with Melissa telling Tyler she loved him.
When the girls were late in returning, Tyler tried calling Melissa and could not get an answer. It did not make sense. She was responsible and normally on time. We tried to call her. No answer.
We called Molly's mom, Mary Jo Fallinske, who was beginning to get frantic as she was having the same result calling her daughter.
A friend had just arrived at her home from Ocala and told her that he was detoured because of a bad accident that forced the closure of State Road 200.
No, this could not be. Why would they not answer their phones? We were hoping they were detoured and in a weak cell phone signal area and maybe that was it?
I called 911 and asked for information about the accident. I was referred to the Florida Highway Patrol in Ocala. All they could tell me was that there was a bad accident and a white truck towing a boat was involved.
This can't be happening.
Lori and I got in my Jeep and took off for the scene. At the river bridge on State Road 200 a Citrus deputy was rerouting traffic. I told him we were afraid that our daughter and best friend were involved in the wreck. He asked me what type of car they were in. I told him it was a silver Honda Civic sedan. He waved us through.
Not a good sign, at all.
About a quarter-mile farther down the road, on the Marion County side, was the scene. We parked and walked up and first saw this large pickup truck and boat trailer on the side of the road, with the large boat no longer sitting on the trailer.
Then we saw it. The scene that no parent ever should see. Our daughter's vehicle was a twisted chunk of metal without a roof. The white medical examiner's van was parked in front of the vehicle.
They were both dead. My wife collapsed next to her car. I had to call Mary Jo and tell her that our girls were gone.
They were on this Earth enjoying life and in a split second everything changed and they were gone. Forever. We are still struggling with the finality of it. Not Melissa! Not Molly! Why them? Why us?
It seems everybody thinks that tragedies happen to someone else -- not them. I was always afraid of that. It has to be somebody.
During my career at the Chronicle, I covered way too many teen fatalities. They always seemed to be right at graduation time. In Marion County that weekend, there were two other accidents that resulted in five more teenagers dead. Five more families going through what we are.
Teenagers feel indestructible. I did at that age. We have to educate them. We have to educate parents.
As discussions continued the idea hit us that we can help fix this problem. From a selfish standpoint, we don't want Melissa and Molly to die in vain. This must mean something.
From a non-selfish standpoint, we don't want any more parents in our community to join this club that has way too many members already. It's the club of parents whose children died before them. We don't want to be a member. Nobody does. You can never quit the club.
Every 64.5 minutes in our country another teenager loses their life and another family is left without that child. Every 55 seconds a teenager is injured in a car crash.
When my daughter learned to drive, I did not know that car accidents were the No. 1 killer of teenagers. We did not spend enough time training our daughter how to drive defensively. I know that now. I can't change it. But if you are a parent with a teen who is driving or will be soon, there is so much you can do so your child does not become another statistic.
In the weeks after the tragedy discussion continued and the timing was right. The sheriff's office was about to introduce the Teen Driving Challenge, a course designed to educate and train our young drivers so they understand the capabilities of their vehicle, how to handle it properly and understand the dangers of driving. It's a pilot program and will be tweaked and expanded with the goal of making it available to all students.
This is one component of several that the newly formed Citrus County Teen Driving Task Force will be working on. Our group is comprised of me and Molly's mom, along with some of the top county officials and business leaders in our community.
In subsequent columns you will learn more about our group and what our goals are. I will also share some ideas that you can implement with your own children who drive.
With strong parental involvement and education of our young drivers, this trend can be reversed.
Start by sharing this column with your teenager.
Tim Hess is the retired Director of Operations for the Chronicle. His e-mail address is thess@tampabay.rr.com.
