Worried

I started this blog years ago as a way to record daily thoughts and, well, feelings.  If you know me at all, you know I try to stay positive and happy.  Why not?  Who would choose to be gloomy and cranky?

Tyler (photos from Patch)

But as I write this morning, my heart is heavy with sadness, and worry.  A young man we have all come to like a whole lot is in very bad condition following an auto accident. His name is Tyler Waldman.  I worked with his mom, who is Chief of our county's Animal Control Division, and she was proud when her son finished college and started this Patch thing in Towson.

Towson.Patch.com is what they call a hyperlocal news source.  There are local versions online in most states on this side of the Mississippi.  Their deal is, they do not carry a single story about Benghazi or whether the grapefruit diet is harmful or who won some "celebrity" "dance" "contest."  But if the local volunteer fire house has a Halloween party for the kids, if some local official is caught in a bad scheme, or a kitchen fire breaks out in a townhouse, they will be there.  Heck, one night on my way home from the x-ray place, I got smashed up in a four-car wreck as I sat waiting for the light to change.  And then as I sat on the wrecked bed of my truck, waiting for the EMS personnel to check me out, there was Tyler, snapping photos of the mess for the Patch.

Accident aftermath

As I understand what happened on Monday morning, Tyler had breakfast at the new Corner Bakery in Eudowood and was heading out on Goucher Boulevard, where, at the intersection of Joppa Rd, his car collided with another, occupied by two women. The stalwart men and women of the Baltimore County Fire and Police Departments did all they could to stabilize him and send him by helicopter to Shock Trauma. It was a very serious accident, Tyler is still in Shock Trauma downtown in critical condition, and is facing more surgeries and deeply in need of our best wishes. 

He has mine, and I ask that you offer yours as well.

You know, it turns out that life is often like that insurance commercial, or an O. Henry story.  You're living your life and suddenly, in your path appears a gigantic roadblock and things get turned around in an instant.

Tomorrow is promised to none of us.  I pray that Tyler will have many more tomorrows, and thank you for letting me share my thoughts.