Good evening,

For those who have small children or grandchildren, please have this conversation. I came very close to losing my youngest daughter, Jayden, this morning. She was out with her best friend walking the neighbor's dog when there was an accident that narrowly missed taking two or three lives. A teenage driver was texting and almost barreled right into my neighbor's daughter and mine. Disaster was avoided, but the driver lept the curb and crashed into a stone wall, sustaining serious injuries as a result, as well as totalling his car.

I have taught my children not to walk or run outside with headphones on in order to maintain higher situational awareness. She heard a noise behind her, the dog barked, and both Jayden and her friend Allie jumped out of the way. The car missed them by about two or three feet at the most. Had they been wearing headphones, I'm not sure if they would have been able to react in time to avoid getting hit. Covid protocols be damned, I hugged her harder than possibly any other time in her young life, and I am so grateful that they both seem to be okay.

I don't know at this time how the driver is doing, but I hope he recovers, and learns from this.