Remembering Sarah on Election Day

(I promise to post a happy halloween post soon once I get the pictures loaded up...)

Tomorrow is Election Day in Virginia.  I have worked in government affairs/politics for my whole career so election day is a big day for us political junkies.  But since 2006, election days mean something else to me.  In 2006, on election day, I received a call at work from my brother telling me that my childhood friend, Sarah Lincolnhol, had died in a tragic car accident the night before.  I could not believe what I was hearing.  I couldn't stop crying and I couldn't stop thinking about her family and her little girls.

To put it in perspective, Sarah and I met when we lived in the same neighborhood - we were about 4 years old and she was one of my first friends.  We walked to kindergarten together and then we rode the bus together in grade school.  We had sleep-overs, we shared teachers and friends, we played basketball together.  We went to high school together, we played on the golf team together.  We made new friends but still maintained our friendship.  We went to different colleges and started to lose touch. 

But in 2006, I received pictures over email of her children from a mutual friend of ours.  I emailed her and we started to get caught up on each other's lives.  She was a stay-at-home mom with two beautiful girls... Maya and Abigail.  Maya was about the same age as Grace (about 2 at the time) and Abigail was about 8 months old.  We made plans to meet up over the Christmas holidays when we would both be back in Michigan.  I thought to myself how fun it would be to see her daughter, Maya, who looked just like her (and still does) and my daughter, Grace, who looks a lot like me, playing together - just as Sarah and I did.

That November night in 2006, Sarah drove to meet her husband for dinner after he got out of work. Her mom and dad were visiting and stayed with the two little girls.   As any parent knows, dinner out without your kids is a special treat and I'm sure Sarah and her husband had a nice dinner.  Then they drove home separately.  And then, in a tragic split second, a drunk driver crossed the median and crashed into Sarah's car.  A few months later, Mothers Against Drunk Driving placed a sign in Sarah's honor at the site of the crash.

Sarah had an incredibly loving and close-knit, Irish, Catholic family - she had 7 brothers and sisters and two wonderful parents.  Before having children, she was a social worker for developmentally disabled adults.  She had a contagious laugh and a huge smile.  She was kind and generous and fun! 

Accidents like this immediately make us question “why” this had to happen to a vivacious, young, daughter, wife, mother, sister, sister-in-law, aunt, granddaughter and friend to many. I know that the Lincolnhol's strong faith and support circle of family and friends helped them through the immediate loss and over the years.

And so tomorrow, I will go vote, but I will also keep Sarah and her family and friends in my thoughts and prayers as they reflect on her much too short life.  And I will reflect on all the blessings that I have in my life and I will hug Bruno and our little girls, Grace and Abigail, just a little tighter tomorrow.