A day I will never forget as long as I live. It was 10:00am on May 27, 2018 my husband woke me (I never sleep this late) saying the cops are here. I rubbed my eyes and came rushing down the stairs. In front of me was standing my brothers two friends and a cop. One of his friends had a bloody bandage on his head. They proceeded to tell me that Dan had been in a boat accident the night before…. that moment my heart stopped beating and I don’t feel like it ever started again. They told me that he was coming back from dinner in Annapolis it was too dark, he as going too fast and he’d been drinking. I started to sob in disbelief, this is not real, this can’t be happening. I felt my chest tighten like I never felt before. I tried to scream, but it wouldn’t come out. It felt like all of the air in my lungs had been sucked out. Everyone wanted to hug me but I just didn’t want to be touched. My girls were awoken by my screams. They stood there just frozen with shock.
I later found out that he hit a day marker which is not lit at night. He died almost instantly from the force of the accident. He knows that river, he knows that marker, he’s driven that same route for 20 years. How could this happen? His friends were ok, which is a blessing. Was it the alcohol, was it the speed, was it the unlit marker? Yes it was all of those things…. if just one thing were taken away from the equation he may still be here.
On the heels of losing my mom this just broke me! I can’t explain how empty and sad I felt. I got up, went to work, came home, repeat. I felt sad all the time, I cried all the time. I never thought I would be the same person again. There I sat completely broken……
A journey back to me 