Local people to the Hagerstown / Williamsport area are all aware of the tragic events of the death of two seniors in a car crash just after the annual WHS Prom Saturday night.

It was about 12:30 a.m. when Diana and I drove to pick up Caleb at the home of his girlfriend – since after midnight he is not able to drive on his provisional license. They had been to the Prom as well.

As we drove past the intersection of the road upon which the accident occurred (not far from Caleb’s girlfriend’s house), it was blocked off by emergency personnel. My mind went to the worst – what did indeed happen – and I recall either thinking or saying, “I hope there’s a fire down that road and not an accident with one of our high school kids.”

The teens are warned consistently about the dangers of this particular night. And that drumbeat of caution makes the actuality of the tragedy more surreal. Preliminary reports indicate that speed on a dangerously twisting road was the likely factor. Though everyone imagines substance involvement, there is no evidence or reason to believe that.

These were nice kids. I did not know the young man beyond name – knowing that he was a highly acclaimed baseball player in our school and county. I did know the young lady casually. She was a star volleyball player, and as such, during the Fall sports season would be in daily close proximity to my teams I coach. This was an extraordinarily beautiful girl with a great smile and kind personality.

As I write this on Sunday night, I’ve been numb about this all day – as I found out about it just minutes before the service at church this morning. I don’t even remember much about the worship set – it was a fog.

I grieve for these families and the entire Williamsport community, especially the great kids of the high school. Tragic events involving the death of classmates fall hard upon teenagers. I imagine that Monday will be a difficult day at WHS.

Our lives are a vapor – even those that get to live a long range of years. Psalm 90 talks about the relative span of a person’s life, and the Psalm comments that even at its longest, life is very short in comparison to God’s eternality.