Happy Valentine's Day?

With all the loss in the world, we get desensitized to hurt. I think we are all guilty of reading about a horrible car crash or murder or natural disaster and thinking, "Gee, that is so sad." But by later in the day, we've moved on and don't even think about the repercussions following those tragedies, unless they happen to us directly.

Today, lovers all over the world celebrate Valentine's Day. For many of those we serve, this will be the first Valentine's Day without their beloved. It will be a day of pain...a day of remembering...a day we wish would hurry up and disappear. Those "firsts" that you have to go through (not, ignore)are very difficult and seem like fuel is being added to the fire for many.

Others are enjoying the day and planning for ways to honor their someone special while you may be pulling the covers over your head as you cry your eyes out. That is OK. That is normal. Grief is a process...a long and difficult journey to go through.

So my wish for you on this day of love, is that you know that you are loved. Even if you feel completely alone and ache for your loved one, you are thought about by those of us at MADD. You are thought about by one who has walked in your shoes...me.

Two Sisters Honor Their Brother’s Death in a Drunk Driving Crash by Volunteering as MADD Victim Advocates

When 33-year-old Lester Clark was killed in a 1992 drunk driving crash, it devastated his four older sisters and their mother. Lester's sisters Pat McCollum and Penny Clark wish they’d known MADD was available to help at the time. In the year’s since, these dynamic women have turned their grief into action as volunteers and victim advocates for MADD in Kentucky and Indiana. They were honored with the 2008 Brenda Altman Heart of MADD Presidential Award, given annually to MADD volunteer victim advocates for their accomplishments in demonstrating initiative, creativity and caring to promote healing and growth for drunk driving crash victims.

Read the sisters’ complete story.