My long-departed father told me one time when I was a rebellious teenager that “Nothing good happens after midnight – so don’t be out all hours of the night.”

I don’t think he was the original purveyor of that line, but it stuck with me.  I’ve also passed it on to my kids and maybe they will pass it on to theirs, or at least tell their friends and they can chuckle at me – just like I did at my father.

Maybe my dad got that feeling after my older sister, when she was just a teenager, was on her way home from a date with her boyfriend and they were hit by a drunk driver.  It happened after midnight.  She lived, but her life was forever changed.  To this day, I hate it when my phone rings after midnight when I know someone in my family is “out there on the streets.”

My mom and dad are both deceased, but they are probably smiling at that last sentence knowing I remember them saying, “I hope you have children of your own some day.”

Last Saturday night (or early Sunday morning) around 2:00 a.m. (after midnight) a drunk driver plowed through a local bar in Great Falls (Montana) killing one and injuring four others. My prayers go out to the families and friends of those involved. Continue reading →