Calamity

Proverbs 19:13 "A foolish child is a calamity to a father"
There are several things as a parent I wasn't prepared for. And dealing with the pain of the death of a friend as teenagers was one of them. In the last 7 months, my kids have had friends die. Whitney's friend in a freak golf cart accident in March, and then one in August leaving for college, one of Nate's classmates fell asleep at the wheel. Friday night a kid from Nate's graduating class was in a car accident and died. Nate had him in class for four years, and had good friends that were friends with this kid. But this one was different. He was driving drunk. Nate said he could've told everyone this was coming. He'd already been in two or three accidents, and was a known partier. To me, this is a foolish child, a calamity to the parents. How sad his parents must be. My heart breaks for them.
With a son this age, it hits close to home. Not the drinking and driving, with five kids, I've never had to deal with that issue. But the loss of life way before it's time, in a totally preventable accident. He took out a tree and a telephone pole, from what I understand, not another car/life. I see high school kids on facebook having parties and getting wasted. Nate said he's surprised cops don't look at it and see how many kids talk about going out partying and getting wasted. I'm surprised parents don't look at that stuff. Nate tells me there are parents who don't care, and I know that to be true.
My kids have dealt with loss and grief at an earlier age than I have. I've lost grandparents and aunts and uncles, but this is different. It makes me want to print up business cards with my name and phone number and pass them out at the school, "Taxi Patsy". It also makes me want to be a street preacher on the corner of 53rd and Hillside, telling everyone how short life is and how to spend their eternity in Heaven. Foolish child.