Summer's Unofficially Here! And a Little Summer Terror...

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know the Summer Solstice is three and a half weeks away, but people in the U.S. considered Memorial Day weekend the start of our summer. The weather has warmed up to the point where we no longer need jackets during the day in most of the states.

Ironically, it's the first truly insane holiday for the Ohio State Troopers since New Year's Eve. I can hear my readers outside of the U.S. asking, "Why?"

It's because people who drink in the U.S. often drive while intoxicated. If that drunk person is lucky, they make it home without killing some living creature. However, they can't trust luck. Eventually, someone will die.

I've got too many stories of drunk drivers. Two of my cousins were hit by drunk driver. Both ended up with spinal and vertebrae injuries they still suffer with decades later. My brother was hit by a drunk driver who was racing another driver. Somehow, his only injuries were bruises from the seatbelt. The kid riding with his drunk brother wasn't so lucky. No seatbelt on and he went right through the windshield.

Another cousin was a police officer in D.C. She's been to far too many accident scenes where innocent people have been disabled or died because of drunk drivers.

Then there were my own parents. With three teenagers in the house, I understand they wanted and needed some privacy. However, their bright idea was to get a 12-pack of Busch and drive through the back country roads while drinking. In their cases, they were lucky.

But it didn't alleviate mine and my siblings' worry. I doubt if Mom and Dad ever realized the three of us would lay awake in our beds until we heard Dad's pickup pull into our drive. And there were a few nights when my brother and sister would enter my room, and we'd sit there discussing whether we needed to call the sheriff to look for them. Like I said, our parents got lucky. We'd eventually hear the truck pull into the drive, and my siblings would scramble back to their rooms.

However, the Ohio State Patrol announced that the 2026 Memorial Day holiday weekend had the fewest fatalities in years. Most of it was due to the doubling or tripling of gas prices depending on where you live. But it means someone, somewhere, isn't crying their eyes out over the loss of a loved one to a drunk driving accident.

I'm not against drinking. I just ask that you please do it at home or have a designated driver when you go out and drink. And make sure you wear your seatbelts. Be safe this summer! Because you all have someone sitting at home in the dark, waiting for your safe return.