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Posts: 53
Joined: April 26, 2009
Posted: April 29, 2009, 6:57 AM
Death of an Innocent
by: Elizabeth Beeson I went to a party, Mom, I remembered what you said. You told me not to drink, Mom, So I drank soda instead. I really felt proud inside, Mom, The way you said I would. I didn't drink and drive, Mom, Even though the others said I should. I know I did the right thing, Mom, I know you are always right. Now the party is finally ending, Mom, As everyone is driving out of sight. As I got into my car, Mom, I knew I'd get home in one piece. Because of the way you raised me, So responsible and sweet. I started to drive away, Mom, But as I pulled out into the road, The other car didn't see me, Mom, And hit me like a load. As I lay there on the pavement, Mom, I hear the policeman say, "The other guy is drunk," Mom, And now I'm the one who will pay. I'm lying here dying, Mom.... I wish you'd get here soon. How could this happen to me, Mom? My life just burst like a balloon. There is blood all around me, Mom, And most of it is mine. I hear the medic say, Mom, I'll die in a short time. I just wanted to tell you, Mom, I swear I didn't drink. It was the others, Mom. The others didn't think. He was probably at the same party as I. The only difference is, he drank And I will die. Why do people drink, Mom? It can ruin your whole life. I'm feeling sharp pains now. Pains just like a knife. The guy who hit me is walking, Mom, And I don't think it's fair. I'm lying here dying And all he can do is stare. Tell my brother not to cry, Mom. Tell Daddy to be brave. And when I go to heaven, Mom, Put "Daddy's Girl" on my grave. Someone should have told him, Mom, Not to drink and drive. If only they had told him, Mom, I would still be alive. My breath is getting shorter, Mom. I'm becoming very scared. Please don't cry for me, Mom. When I needed you, you were always there. I have one last question, Mom. Before I say good bye. I didn't drink and drive, So why am I the one to die? | ||
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Posts: 6374
Joined: January 5, 2008
Posted: April 29, 2009, 7:22 AM
I knew several people in my community who have died in accidents caused by people driving under the influence. There is one story that I will relate here although I didn't know the teenager but his sister is now my best friend. It was just before Christmas time. Her brother at the time was 13 years old and his mom sent him on an errand to the corner store. A drunk driver swerved up on the sidewalk on which he was walking and killed him.
-------------------- Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need | ||
Posts: 6300
Joined: May 27, 2005
Posted: April 29, 2009, 8:49 AM
One of our former clients is in jail now for killing a woman on Mother's Day last year. The sad thing is he tried to blame it on her. He continued drinking until the police came and got him. Myself, I didn't learn to drive till after I got sober but that didn't stop me. I drove home from the bar a couple of times and had no idea what I was doing. I hit a parked car once. Talk about brainless. Sheesh.
-------------------- १२ सà¥à¤¤à¥ˆà¤ªà¥à¤ªà¥ˆà¤°! kat11100@comcast.net If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man. Mark Twain Just because the monkey's off your back doesn't mean the circus has left town Laugh because it shows people that you have what they want and what they need: a hope in things unseen, a peace that passes understanding, and a God of miracles who also has a great sense of humor. | ||
Posts: 4174
Joined: July 18, 2006
Posted: April 29, 2009, 9:19 AM
Not according to public record, no, and you can't prove it.
When I was young, drinking and driving was a right of passage. Those who were too sloppy-drunk to drive were said to be unable to hold their liquor. We'd pile into a car and just drive around, looking for "fun." The drinking age was lowered to 18, for heaven's sake, and there was at least one or two deaths right around graduation of young promising students who'd gotten behind the wheel and killed themselves and/or others. This was long before MADD, SADD, DUI laws, mandatory seatbelt laws, DWI laws, and the emphasis that is placed on inexperienced youth and passenger laws. These, it would seem, don't prevent stupid people from doing stupid stuff. STILL there are people coming through the court systems that are convinced that they simply "made a mistake and got caught" while drinking. The first thing First Drink takes away apparently is judgement... -------------------- Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation. | ||
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Posts: 6374
Joined: January 5, 2008
Posted: April 29, 2009, 9:56 AM
I guess I was suppose to answer if I drank and drove......yes
-------------------- Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need | ||
Posts: 3589
Joined: June 7, 2006
Posted: April 29, 2009, 10:12 AM
Unfortunately yes I did. On several occasions. I just never got caught so I kept on doing it. Thank God I quit drinking before I killed someone. At the time I always knew it was wrong but I didn't care if I died and I was selfish and didn't even consider the innocent people I could kill. Addiction removes all sense of responsibilty and judgement imo.
I used to drive to the store to get more booze and 5 out of 10 times I would smash the suburban into the garage wall. Finally my SU just quit patching the hole. He'd hide the keys and I would always find them. Complete insanity. -------------------- Live In Blessings Not Blame. Your Inner Peace Begins With Sobriety. Valarie :-) | ||
Posts: 9248
Joined: December 1, 2005
Posted: April 29, 2009, 10:59 AM
I drank & drove constantly, I never thought I was too bad to drive...The only reason I did not hurt or kill my children, my husband or innocent others is by the Grace of God....
At the end of my drinking, when I woke up and drove to work in the morning, I am sure my blood alcohol level was over the legal limit and this is without even taking a drink. That poem is tragic...I read it many, many years ago and got the same chills... Seems like where I live, right around this time of year, we lose children to drunk driving accidents.....First Friday in June is Graduation and what our town has done is after graduation, a bunch of parents and business donate time & gifts and we hold a "Sober Grad Night" party where the graduating kids go & party all night, in a hall, without alcohol and win very nice gifts and hang out. End of the party is at daylight, 6am.....It does work, we've been fortunate to have cut down on the after Grad party accidents and senseless deaths........ My daughter is graduating this year....I pray for her safety and all of her classmates safety too......... -------------------- Happiness is not in the bottom of a pill bottle. It's inside you. | ||
Posts: 206
Joined: December 1, 2008
Posted: April 29, 2009, 11:19 AM
Hey Stacey! What a great idea! Do you too volunteer your time? I know you most likely will this year. Its so crazy the night of Prom and Graduation.
In my days, we didnt have anything like that in place. I sure wish we did. Prom night was the biggest party night for the grads. We all would rent hotel rooms and find someone to buy Kegs for us. Yea nice at 16-17-18 years old. Then we'd stay up drinking all night then head for Cedar Point (an amusement park in Ohio). Sure still intoxicated and drive 1 1/2. Its still like that today going to Cedar point the next day. Usually alot of the girls lose their virginities those nights too. Not by choice either. Date rape drugs and just from being so messed up and getting taken advantage of. They might have something like what you are talking about now but it wasnt then. I sure hope so. Congrats for your daughter graduating this year! YAY! Is that your last one in High School? -------------------- Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending. Its not the Hello, its the goodbye you remember. | ||
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Posts: 6374
Joined: January 5, 2008
Posted: April 29, 2009, 11:56 AM
Hey there Stacey it's the same format here for graduation night BUT what the graduating class have taken to doing is the night AFTER graduation they all go to some park and party it up where there is lots of booze and drugs. I can relate also to what you said about driving the morning after. There were many mornings I drove to work when I wasn't fit to be behind the wheel. A few times I can remember taking a cold wet cloth with me to wipe my face to try and stay alert while driving. I am so glad I don't have to live like that anymore or make it through those terrible hungover days. Your comment was such a reminder to me of how that felt. Glad you did makes me feel even more grateful for today!
-------------------- Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need | ||
Posts: 829
Joined: January 26, 2008
Posted: April 29, 2009, 6:59 PM
Yep and I have 2 DUI's and 10 days in jail to prove it. By Gods grace, I never hurt anyone in the process.
-------------------- In spirit, Zipper The image in a mirror doesn't always reflect the condition of a soul - LN 
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Posts: 2246
Joined: March 23, 2006
Posted: April 29, 2009, 9:54 PM
ashamed to say yes i did. thanks to God never injured or killed anyone
-------------------- Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:27 May the Force be with you. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should just get used to the idea....Robert Heinlein. You can spend the next 24 hours reaching your true potential or sliding down into your own particular hell. the choice is always yours. | ||
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Posts: 53
Joined: April 26, 2009
Posted: April 30, 2009, 6:18 AM
yes, I drank and drove, many times, and I drank, drove and raced cars, there has been more then one occassion i nearly killed my friends and myself, Booze, a car and a girl who loves fast cars and recless driving (even in he rain and doing doughnuts) is not a great mix.
I put a friend through the windscreen once, dislocated my shoulder once, got sent to hospital with sever head laserations and extream concussion (light headed and sickness and stichers in my head) un i drove home on a car with only 3 tyers after popping one in a race and not realising because i was so drunk, I had sparks when i took the corners to fast with no tyre, the kicker is i got up to go to work the next morning and had no idea the tyre was popped and didn't believe my dad when he said it was that is actually how drunk i was when i was street racing the night before and drove over 15 minutes home with no tyre, um i wrote off my car once after leaving a party (please keep in mind these are ALL individual incidents... can you imagin I ACTUALLY KEEPT DRIVING THINKING THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG!!!!!! I just want to scream at myself now but what's the f**king point I never bloody learn, I am just so mad at myself! Lets continue shall we... there was the time i ran into the back of my parents car when I pulled up home drunk, the time i was driving from a party and spun out on a corner with 5 (and overloaded car) people in the car and gave 1 friend whip lash and refused to stop driving to let someone less drunk drive, infact i told my friends if they had a problem they could get out and call a cab (in the middle of nowhere) great friend i am, um then their is the time I drove home like a nut (taking corners as fast as i could (me my sister and her (new at the time) boyfriend got in the car (I was the drunkest to drive the half hour home, I drove so crazy my sister was crying asking me to stop, bill was screaming in the back seat and me and my friend were laughing having the time of my life, then my sister wanted me to let her out of the car but I didn't and when i finally got home and let my sister out of the car she pushed me so in return I punched her and gave her a black eye for pushing me, top effort what kind of idiot am I!!!! What else can i say it does actually go on, but I have had enough for now, maybe i can disgust you later with the rest. like the flashing work colegues when i was drunk (the CEO as well. anyway another day. | ||
Posts: 4017
Joined: April 21, 2006
Posted: April 30, 2009, 6:49 AM
Yes the times i can remember and all the rest(majority) are lost in my friend blackout which resulted in a lot of next days actually looking for the car...finding it and usually drinking again.....
light and love Zac -------------------- Endless Hope can be found when I am ready for acceptance mixed with spirituality and ask for the courage to change. | ||
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Posts: 4174
Joined: July 18, 2006
Posted: April 30, 2009, 8:46 AM
Cl@ire,
What will you do differently? -------------------- Faith is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation. | ||
Posts: 577
Joined: February 25, 2009
Posted: April 30, 2009, 4:43 PM
We were talking about our drinking and driving experiences before a meeting a few weeks ago. I remarked that I was really lucky that I had never gotten a DUI. Somebody looked at me and just said, "Yet."
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Posts: 53
Joined: April 26, 2009
Posted: May 1, 2009, 3:54 AM
I have hidden my keys in the past, i have said i wont drink then i do, I have given my keys to friends to look after and told them no matter what don't let me drive and then when they woudln't give them back because i was to drunk to drive I would lose it till they were scared i would strike and just gave up and hand them to me... I can be very manipulative when i want something so i also use guilt and othre tacks, um i could say i will catch a cab... but i've woken up and said that many times.. also said that i would never drive again sober or not.. that was after putting my frien through the windscreen and 1 of 3 times I wrote of a car whilst drunk but it just lasted well less then 1 mth... so i guess the only thing is to work on never having a first drink... obviously i can not be trusted otherwise... only time will tell if i succeed... but I got to tell you I am a bit of a sceptic.. considering all the other attempts... but good luck to me i say... it is my birthday and i want a drink. but i will hold out..
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Posted: May 1, 2009, 2:14 PM
Isn't it grand and freeing to really discover and accept your a real alcoholic, Cl@ire? It can be some what shocking. Yet, if your honest with yourself about your drinking and behavior this is the first step in recovery. Your drunk a logs are so similar to millions of others. Though they have the potential to become more devastating. Have you become miserable enough yet? If not, drink until your convinced. If you want to be free of the pain, there is a way out, a way too heal. Without spiritual help it's to much for most of us to recover on our own. You don't ever have to drink again. You can be surrounded with so much love, understanding, support, fun and laughter. Oh yes there will be tears, but you won't be alone. There are many others who have survived the ship wreck. Alcohol isn't the multi-purpose tool at this stage of the disease. The relief and fun it once provided is nearly non-existant, if not gone completely. Chasing the good memories of earlier times won't bring them back. Many of us tried, to no avail. Wishing you a Happy and Hopeful Birthday.
Does this sound familiar? From AA Big Book Chapter 3 - More About Alcoholism Most of us have been unwilling to admit we were real alcoholics. No person likes to think he is bodily and mentally different from his fellows. Therefore, it is not surprising that our drinking careers have been characterized by countless vain attempts to prove we could drink like other people. The idea that somehow, someday he will control and enjoy his drinking is the great obsession of every abnormal drinker. The persistence of this illusion is astonishing. Many pursue it into the gates of insanity or death. We learned that we had to fully concede to our innermost selves that we were alcoholics. This is the first step in recovery. The delusion that we are like other people, or presently may be, has to be smashed. We alcoholics are men and women who have lost the ability to control our drinking. We know that no real alcoholic ever recovers control. All of us felt at times that we were regaining control, but such intervals usually brief were inevitably followed by still less control, which led in time to pitiful and incomprehensible demoralization. We are convinced to a man that alcoholics of our type are in the grip of a progressive illness. Over any considerable period we get worse, never better. We are like men who have lost their legs; they never grow new ones. Neither does there appear to be any kind of treatment which will make alcoholics of our kind like other men. We have tried every imaginable remedy. In some instances there has been brief recovery, followed always by a still worse relapse. Physicians who are familiar with alcoholism agree there is no such thing a making a normal drinker out of an alcoholic. Science may one day accomplish this, but it hasn't done so yet. Despite all we can say, many who are real alcoholics are not going to believe they are in that class. By every form of self- deception and experimentation, they will try to prove themselves exceptions to the rule, therefore nonalcoholic. If anyone who is showing inability to control his drinking can do the right-about- face and drink like a gentleman, our hats are off to him. Heaven knows, we have tried hard enough and long enough to drink like other people! Recovery Prayer This prayer is based on a section of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous: Thank you for keeping me straight yesterday. Please help me stay straight today. For the next twenty-four hours, I pray for knowledge of Your will for me only, and the power to carry that through. Please free my thinking of self-will, self-seeking, dishonesty, and wrong motives. Send me the right thought, word, or action. Show me what my next step should be. In times of doubt and indecision, please send Your inspiration and guidance. I ask that You might help me work through all my problems, to Your glory and honor. This prayer is a recovery prayer. It can take us through any situation. In the days ahead, we'll explore the ideas in it. If we pray this prayer, we can trust it has been answered with a yes. Today, I will trust that God will do for me what I cannot do for myself. I will do my part - working the Twelve Steps and letting God do the rest. From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990 | ||
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Posts: 577
Joined: February 25, 2009
Posted: May 1, 2009, 3:40 PM
I know I'm a day late, but Happy Birthday Claire! Hope it was great!
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Posts: 6374
Joined: January 5, 2008
Posted: May 1, 2009, 7:11 PM
Happy birthday Claire. Hope it was a good one.
-------------------- Thank God for what you have. Trust God for what you need | ||
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