Friday, March 13, 2009

Who Was Elizabeth Durante?

Elizabeth Durante was a Connecticut College student traveling to Boston's Logan Airport to spend her spring break delivering medical supplies to the needy in Uganda when a colleague of mine driving the wrong way on 395 with no headlights on smashed into her van head on and killed her.

http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/news_wtnh_montville_deadly_wrong_way_crash_on_I395_200903070708

I mention this not to vilify or condemn Petty Officer Musser (the courts will do that), to say the casinos shouldn't serve alcohol after the bars close (Gov. Rell might try), or even to eulogize the life of someone I never knew (her friends and family are doing that now).

I just want to mention it here in this space as a reminder of how fleeting human life is. In this case, someone who wasn't doing anything inherently dangerous (riding to the airport), serving in a war zone, or in anything other than perfect health was killed suddenly and without any warning. Something similar could happen to virtually anyone at virtually any moment.

So, cliched though it might be, it still bears repeating -- take advantage of every day that you're given.

2 comments:

Anne said...

Thanks for the reminder. It's so easy to get caught up in the little stuff of each day that we forget the precious moments that we're given.

The New Englander said...

Anne,

Glad you liked it..

best,
gp