When I was 17 a close friend of mine got drunk at her own birthday party and accepted a lift home from an older man who was, according to his autopsy report, four times over the limit when he smashed his open-top MG into a tree. She was sitting behind the driver. The car folded and the Police were picking bits of her face off that tress for two days before it was felled. Her name was Tracy Pye, she had bright blue eyes red-gold hair like a lion’s mane and she was so, so funny. She’s buried in Didcot Cemetery and I still visit her grave when I’m up there. The other backseat passenger, another friend of mine, was thrown into a water-filled ditch and wasn’t spotted until dawn – she still wears a back brace and walks with a stick. Her name is Debbie. Front seat passenger walked away unhurt. Didn’t know him or the driver.
So yes, Life can be short and Death can be sudden. And brutal. But I don’t celebrate her life by getting pissed on her birthday – I do it by never driving within 48 hours of drinking alcohol, and understanding that we all have a Social Responsibility to protect other people whenever we can.