Susan’s Basket Store is very aware of the statistics concerning drunk driving fatalities and would like to share this article in an effort to encourage all those consuming alcohol during the upcoming July 4th, holiday and every other occasion, to remember to drink and drive responsibly!

I am only six days away from an event that I’m sure I will never forget an event that will bring tears as well as awareness, an event that will be undoubtedly traumatic. On many occasions over the years, my 17 year old daughter has asked me to be a participant in school related functions. From the early years, it was to bring cookies to a school party or be a driver for a field trip or to sell fund raiser chocolates at work. But this time it’s different. This time the effect on me is far greater as well as the effect on other participants.

It started one afternoon when she arrived home from school. I remember her giving me the spill initially quite bluntly. “Mom” she said, “I want to volunteer for a program called “Every 15 Minutes”. “I need your signature on this form so I can do a mock death”. Of course I was bewildered. “WHAT!” “Mock DEATH?”. It was then that she slowed down to explain the program to me. She explained how there was a program held by the school and the local police department where 17 students were selected to participate in a “mock accident/death”. Every 15 minutes of the day, one of the 17 students would be taken out of class and made up with white make-up and black robes and then returned to class to represent a person somewhere killed by a drunk driver, statistically every 15 minutes. For the parents/students that volunteer, the local Police Chaplin would visit the parent at his place of work or at home to deliver a mock death notice. That day after school, the students would not return home. The students would be taken to a hotel room where they would all work on creating a goodbye letter for their parents. As a parent of a volunteer, I’d be required to write an obituary for my daughter, and a goodbye letter that would be read at the ceremony the following day.

This was all very heavy stuff. I was partly in shock because I didn’t understand what the school was intending to accomplish. To me it seemed like a ridiculous show of emotion and I didn’t believe that it would have any affect on the people it should, namely the drunk drivers themselves. It seemed like a program designed to bring pain and suffering on the “innocent” potential victims. My daughter was persistent. She explained with tears in her eyes how she knows kids that think nothing of drinking and driving. She expressed her belief in the program, how she felt she could affect someone and possibly get through to those teens who think drinking and driving is no big deal. I wasn’t convinced but her commitment and enthusiasm for the program prompted me to sign the form. It was even better news when I heard that there were many students applying and only 17 would be chosen. I was secretly hoping that she would not be chosen.

Within a few weeks my daughter and I attended a meeting held at the high school to describe in detail the program and answer any questions we might have. I was ready to arrive and explain my feelings about how this program couldn’t be beneficial. The director of the program laid out the plan and mentioned statistics. The local Chaplin for the Police Dept. gave his speech about how often he’d had to contact parents about their teenage drivers being involved in an accident. I decided I had to put my 2 cents in. I was calm and collected when I raised my hand. I started to explain how I had been through a real life event when my pregnant sister and her husband were killed in an auto accident in 1990. Before I could get very far, I started to choke up. Eventually, while fighting back tears, I was able to ask the question that concerned me most. How would this help anyone? After the meeting, to my surprise I was convinced that if this program could raise awareness about drunk driving and possibly prevent just one person in the audience or one student from getting behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol that it was something I was willing to do. Perhaps that one person saved would be my own child.

So here I am, only 6 days from the event. I’ve written my goodbye letter to my daughter. I haven’t read it since I wrote it a month ago. It was hard enough writing the first time, I can’t bear to read it again unless I have to. I’ve submitted her obituary to the director of the program. I’ve informed my employer that on the the 26th of February, the police department and Chaplin will be visiting my place of business to deliver the mock death notice. I’m as prepared as I can be, which in itself is a little ironic since you can never prepare yourself for the loss of a child. It’s the thought of reading my goodbye letter to her at the ceremony the following day that scares me.

I’m not sure how this will all pan out, but I know that it will be a stressful 2 days. Although it’s an event that I hope that others remember for a lifetime, especially the students attending the high school, I’m thinking it’s an event that I’ll be happy to put behind me. I’m looking forward to giving my daughter a hug when it’s all over and getting on with the rest of our lives, and most of all being thankful that she still has her life to live.

Check back soon and I’ll post part II of “Every 15 Minutes”, so you’ll find out how everything went.

- Wendy Layne ©2002