My sister in law Liz, went back to work today as a teacher in the same school where I graduated and where all her kids graduated. She spoke to the students in grades 6th thru 12th and this is what she said.

I have had two very difficult days in the month of February. The first on being February 18, the day I found out that our son Kirk had died as the result of a pick up accident. The second day was February 22, the day we buried him never to see his body again until we meet him in heaven.

Today is my third most difficult day. Some of you may wonder why I say this. Today is the day that I ask all of you as teenagers, sons, daughters, grandsons, granddaughters, nephews, nieces, cousins, and friends to please think before you get into a vehicle if you have been doing something you shouldn’t have been doing. Please think to buckle your seat belt. Please think about the speed you are driving. Please just think.

This is what Kirk did not do. He did not think about what would happen to him that night as he took out on the back roads late Saturday night and did not let anyone know where he was going. He did not think to buckle his seat belt. When we tried to call him on Sunday morning his phone first said he was out of the area so we didn’t think much about it, later it just gave that funny ring and we started to get a little worried, but when it rang and rang and he didn’t answer we were very worried. By Sunday evening his friends were out looking for him. But where, no one knew where he had gone. On Monday morning we started searching the back roads. Jimmy said, “Let’s go down this one and I said, No he probably went to Logan so we took the other road. Around noon we received a call that Kirk had been in an accident and it wasn’t good. We also found out it happened on the road Jimmy had wanted to take. We arrived at the scene to see Kirk trapped under the pick up from his hips down. He came upon a sharp curve and probably stepped on the brakes a little to hard and the 500 pounds of feed in the feeder shifted forward the pick up took a nose dive and rolled over on its side. Kirks foot was trapped in the steering wheel when he was found. We thank the dear Lord that he was taken to heaven instantly. Kirk had laid there for almost 36 hours before he was found. It wasn’t until Thursday that we found out why Kirk was on that road. When the funeral director brought us Kirks bag of clothes. He said what was he wearing this bag is very heavy. In the bag was the chaps Kirk was wanting to buy, they probably weighed around 20 pounds. Then we figured it out because Kirk was also wearing his shoes. He was trying to come home a safe way to get the boots he had forgot to see if they would look good with the chaps he was wanting to buy. On his cell phone he had 42 missed calls and many texts. But Kirk didn’t think, because if he had he could of waited until the morning.

So now you know why this is my third most difficult day and this is why I ask you all to take the time to think about what you are doing. Maybe if Kirk had done so he would still be here with his family. In losing Kirk we lost our son, the son that wanted to run the ranch some day, Derek and Ashlee lost their brother, Kirk’s grandparents lost their grandson, Kirk’s Aunts and Uncles lost their nephew, Kirk’s cousins lost their cousin, and Kirk’s friends lost their friend.

So I ask all of you again to think before you get into a vehicle if you have been doing something you shouldn’t have been doing. Please think to buckle your seat belt. Please think about the speed you are driving. Please just think so your family doesn’t have to grieve the way our family has had to. Life is to precious to not think about you actions. Please think, think, think.