A tragic loss

Yesterday I was talking on the phone with my friend and she asked me if I heard the horrible news from Eagle Harbor. I said I had not. Earlier in the morning a young girl was struck by a car and killed while on her way to school. This is particularly hard on my friend because she is helping to raise her granddaughters and has one nearing that same age. Hits close to home in so many ways for my friend as she lives in this community not far from the grade school. I think at this point the age of the young lady had not been released. 

It was yet dark, before 7:00 and initial reports were that the high school student crossed between two cars, the driver in the 2nd car not seeing her, or the teen not seeing the car. Whichever, the driver is mortified, the young lady is deceased, and families are mourning.

In reading the reports and listening to the local reporters, many refer to this young lady, Gianna, as being beautiful or lovely. I wonder to myself why this matters, why does her appearance even come into play? Such is local news reporting (perhaps even national reporting) and yes, from her photo, she was a lovely young lady. I guess they don't really know what else to say. 

According to the stories, this family moved here recently from another state, the father serving in the Navy. Gianna was already established in her new school and seemingly popular. There was a candlelight vigil held at the high school where she was in her first year with hundreds of folks turning out. A fundraising site has been established to raise funds for the young lady's funeral, and is already near $10,000. I read through the names of the donors, recognizing only a few. I guess lots has changed since I left EH, now over 10 years ago! 

That made me sad, too, because years ago (14 of them!) when my son died, this same community rallied for us. We were not new to the area, had lived in 5 of the neighborhoods in Eagle Harbor already, built many of the homes, and had attended the developer's parties celebrating the 100th family, the 200th family, and so on over the years. If there had been a fundraiser for our situation, I believe I'd have recognized most if not all of the names. At least, my heart tells me that is so. What is special for this family is that even though they are new to the area, they are being embraced by their community. May God bless them at this time of great sorrow in their lives....