Make your hugs count

It’s that time of year. Students across the country are heading back to school. Of course, it occasionally means another kind of story, a sadder one.

It means stories like what happened Tuesday in Ohio, where a student was killed and 23 were injured when their school bus crashed on state Route 41 in German Township on the first day of school. CNN reported that the Northwestern Local School District school bus was struck by a speeding van that crossed the center line. The bus then went off the road and overturned, according to the investigation.

When I hear stories like that, I’m instantly taken back to an interview I had with a mother who lost her daughter in a school bus crash. The accident happened in the 70s, but the mother could recall with precision everything that had happened up until the moment she dropped her daughter off at the school bus.

The crash was still painful for her. She lobbied for improved school bus safety measures and she gave some good advice that I’ve never forgotten. Her advice: tell your loved ones that you love them and “make your hugs count.”

Yes, I definitely make my hugs count. You can read my original blog post below.

The tragic story I’ve never been able to shake

Discover more from Writing from the Heart with Brian

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

29 thoughts on “Make your hugs count”

      1. My son’s best friend died due to an accident – not a bus, but still not an expected death, three years ago and the parents are still struggling. My son was born sick so I knew I didn’t have him for a long time (no matter how much we hoped – it’s the realist in me) and there is less a case of “why” and maybe a slighter ability to accept it. Or maybe that is just me.

        Liked by 2 people

  8. My kids were involved in a school bus crash. Nobody perished, so I can’t say I know that feeling, but I can say that it is a very scary call to receive and the minutes it took me to get to the scene of the wreck felt like more. I recall them in slow motion and, even though it has been years, it is still difficult to breathe as I replay the memory of that morning.

    Liked by 3 people

    1. Wow, that had to be a scary call. When my kids started to get older, they always wanted me to drop them off on my way to work. I always felt like it was a catch-22. Yes, I could drive them, but how was it any different than being on the bus, which was bigger and probably, on the grand scale of things, safer. Just a tough call.

      Liked by 1 person

  12. Oh my heart!! My heart aches for anyone who loses a loved one, and especially to lose a child! I lost my brother when I was 13 years old and it broke my heart. We had been so close. But as I have had kids of my own now I hurt even more for my parent’s. I understand more now of how it must have felt for them to lose my brother. Really like losing a part of yourself. YES, give the hugs and say the words, because you never know. Always a good reminder. ❤

    Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑

Discover more from Writing from the Heart with Brian

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading