Second Post of The Same Day

So today was an extremely long day.

Ive gotten a whole new realization that life is taken for granted everyday by everyone until they lose someone close. I went and took pictures of the wrecked car and the memorial site to appease my mind, because as a photographer its easier to capture the moments and dwell over them later to let it all sink in. I could have stood there looking at that car for hours and I would never understand how a car could be that badly shattered. Or how it could even happen at all.

Its still fresh on the surface that Stephanie is gone but its starting to sink in a little bit. I visited her family for the first time in 5 years and her mom recognized me right away. Dylan went with me as support because he was also part of our circle of best friends as a young kid. All three of us lived on the same street here in my hometown for at least 8 years and would be outside everyday doing something as random as sitting on a skateboard pulling them up the hill with a jumprope or camping in our familiar backyards. We talked and laughed and smiled for her, because that girl never stopped smiling and her smile was always contagious, so for her we're all smiling so her light can still shine through. Her visitation is tomorrow and the funeral is on Tuesday and I think the hard part is over, now we just have to let her go on her way and wish her a smooth venture. We all cried and hugged, kissed cheeks and cried some more, but in the end it helped all of us to be there for one another.

On the flip side, while sitting in the hotel hot tub I met this amazing lady who had been traveling with her 3 kids since June 23rd just driving wherever the road took them. The called it a "Grand Tour" and they all seemed very very happy and my whole family thought it was crazy that they even found this little town. When Im old and have a family I want to be like her. End of story.