3 Dead In Head On Collision

3 Dead In Head On Collision was Originally Posted on February 16, 2015 by lavarock

Yesterday morning 3 people died in a traffic accident north of town. I passed that location today twice, once heading north and again later in the day heading south. Traffic slowed as people headed towards the airport, partly out of respect and partly because there were cars and people all standing beside a makeshift memorial.

On the way back, traffic was slow for at least a mile or two and the memorial had grown and more cars were parked there as friends and relatives consoled each other. As I passed, a police car arrived there, perhaps to ask people to disperse before sunset.

It is something that takes getting used to, living on an island in the middle of the Pacific, what we call the most remote place to live in the world. When I first moved here, even before I had left my extended stay in the hotel to move to the farm, I had already been invited to weddings and funerals for friends of friends. It was explained to me that this was common and in my case, they knew I was single and there would be food.

Over a decade ago, a young boy disappeared under mysterious circumstances. You could not miss the posters, bumper stickers and newspaper reports of the investigation. I soon found that I knew a relative of the boy.

Although I do not think I know any of the people involved in yesterdays accident,  I can honestly say that they were neighbors, as we all are on this rock in the ocean. I may well have stood next to one of the in line somewhere. I might know a relative or direct neighbor of theirs. After hearing the news of the accident, I knew that I would pass that location the next day as there are only 2 ways to go north from where I was and one passed that spot.

Without knowing the people I was still touched as I saw the assembled people talking, holding and consoling each other. Out here, more than other places, we are all connected in one way or another.

The fact that it was Valentines Day makes it that much worse.