Mom was the kind of person who always seemed to know what you needed before you even had to ask. Whether it was making sure our school supplies were bought before the first day of school or noticing when we were feeling down and offering just the right words to lift us up, she had an intuitive way of caring for everyone around her. Her attention to detail was one of her most beautiful traits—she made sure we always felt loved, supported, and understood. She had this incredible gift of making you feel special, as if you were the most important person in her world, even on the most ordinary of days. Mom taught us the value of kindness, the importance of looking out for one another, and most of all, how to love deeply and without hesitation. 

Though my heart aches every day from her absence, I find peace in knowing that her spirit lives on in all of us. My mom was more than just the sum of her actions—she was love in human form, and I see pieces of her in each of her grandchildren, in my sister Crystal, and even in myself. She was the best mom we could have asked for.

That’s why, even though her life was tragically cut short by a distracted driver, I choose to focus on all the ways she made the world a better place while she was here. By sharing her story, I hope to help prevent other families from experiencing the same heartbreak we did. Pedestrian safety is crucial, and it shouldn’t take a loss like ours for action to be taken. Just a month after she died, a crosswalk with caution lights was installed where she was struck. I only wish it had been there sooner.

Mom, I know you’re watching over us, and I hope you can feel just how deeply you are—and always will be—loved. Your legacy of love, selflessness, and kindness will never fade. We miss you every day, but we carry your lessons and your love with us, always.

With all my love,
Angel

This is the 21^st Father’s Day that I will once again spend without my oldest son, Mark. 

I am most certain we would have been planning which NASCAR track we would be “hitting” next.

Unfortunately, there are no more Father’s Days with my son, no more NASCAR races, no more laughs and certainly no more memories to make. 

I miss my son terribly and the decision of one person in less than a moment to not pay attention to a simple safety law ended time with my son. 

As Mark’s dad, I can tell you that no parent should ever have to endure the pain my wife, Gwen and I have suffered. 

The hole in our hearts will never heal but we press on in hope that our message will be heard through Melissa, (our daughter in law) as she advocates for Roadway safety commitments, programs, and The Mark Wandall Foundation. 

As a Dad, I can tell you that Mark was everything a parent could ever ask for and then some. Our time was so special and he is tragically missed. 

I was at the crash site and witnessed our son in the car and I take that vision to bed every night because of an inattentive driver. 

The personal repercussions from this crash are ten-fold.

By writing this message about my son, who he was, and who we will never hug again; I plead with all drivers to recognize that we are driving “weapons.” That we all have a responsibility to keep each other and all road users safe on our roadways. 

If we can reach just one person, it will profoundly save a life. 

We want to mitigate the opportunity to inflict this type of horrific emotional pain on anyone due to poor driving habits.

We all have the opportunity to be safe, mindful drivers if we choose. When we choose safety over risky behavior we save lives. 

We can all be unintentional violators and take a life at any moment. We are the ones who can stop this type of behavior.

I am pleading with you on this Father’s Day and every day to be mindful while driving so you do not take someone else’s son-shine away. 

Bud Wandall, Marks Dad

“Brad Deanda” is much more than a name on a road marker to me. In case you were wondering, a road marker is a sign on the road that reminds people to drive safely, and the sign reads the name of a person whose life was lost due to theirs or someone else’s unsafe driving choices. I never knew what a road marker was until I learned that my uncle’s name was going to be on one. It’s such a nice honor for his name to be on one of these signs, but his name deserves to be seen in so many more places today.

My uncle’s name deserves to be included in a group text for a night out or worn on his fireman’s badge, not appearing on a sign that so many people will pass by each day without giving it a second thought. My uncle saved so many lives, but it only took one person to end his, because of another person’s poor decision made in a split second. The next time you see a road marker, please remember the person behind it and the life that was lost in order for it to be put up.

My uncle was a hero who lit up every room he was in with his amazing stories. This road marker that he has left behind tells a story too. It’s a much sadder story than the ones he used to tell, but it has a lesson- to make good decisions while driving. I wish more people would take away the lesson from my uncle’s story instead of learning it the hard way, themselves. Hopefully, this road marker will remind people of the consequences of careless driving so fewer road markers will have to be put up in the future.

My son Anthony was my best friend. If you met Anthony, you liked him. If you knew Anthony, you loved him. He was just a joyful person. He seemed to understand in every moment what the situation required. 

He was the kid his friends would call when they needed advice.

Anthony’s senior project was to write a letter to an underclassman who would first open it years later when they graduated. 

His friend Chloe, who was a sophomore at the time, received the letter two years after Anthony wrote it and six months after he had been killed by a texting driver.

All of Anthony’s charisma and energy came through that letter. It was like he spoke to me from beyond the grave. 

I got part of it tattooed on my arm: “Nothing is impossible. Impossible is a word used by the weak to justify giving up. Never give up.” I can’t see it any other way except that my son achieved the impossible. He crossed the threshold between life and death to remind me that nothing is impossible — including this mission to end distracted driving for good. 

I miss him every day! The heartbreak is unbearable on most days.

I use my days to find ways to make our Florida roads safer for everyone in Joshua’s name.

I do not want one more person to die and I want to curb behaviors in any way that I can.

Thank you for reading about my son. I want to share some things that he loved to do!

Joshua was a Painter by trade. He enjoyed swimming from childhood, and God give him many gifts one was singing and as an adult, he sang in many bands.

He loved Alabama football! “Go, Roll Tide.” He also loved the Boston Bruins hockey team.

Since Joshua’s childhood, we did a lot of fundraising to include skate-a-thons and he won a TV and a Bike in different years!

He loved roller skating!  Just like I did at his age!

As an adult, in 2014, he raised money for a woman with cancer by singing with his band. This was the last concert I was able to go to for my talented son.

My Joshua loved to joke around and he would have a serious side also. Rainman, the movie came out in 1988 and my Joshua could sound just like Raymond.  He was NOT making fun of it at all, he knew all the work I did over the years with handicapped people but this is a memory I will never forget. He was also a scout just like me through the years!

Joshua loved wrestling and we would go see the locals in Crestview.

Then one time, in 1988 we went to a WWF Wresting in Hershey, PA

A cherished and funny memory was seeing Ted Dibiase and Andre’ The Giant in Hershey, Pennsylvania! They would throw money in the arena and Joshua was grabbing and stuffing his pockets and said “Mom, hide this money.” I knew it was fake but they still wanted it back!  The look on Josh’s face, I will always remember. He was such a funny kid! I miss him.

Joshua loved art! He could draw almost anything, he made me a coffee holder and a unicorn in woodshop in high school!

He had a sense of humor and a big heart! He even talked a few of his friends out of suicide.

When he was little my grandpa always gave him lollipops, and when Joshua’s great-grandpa passed away we would go to the grave and Joshua would say “ Grandpa, here is a lollipop for you!”

Thank you for allowing me to share the beauty in my son behind his roadside marker.

All of these memories take me back! It is still so surreal today that Joshua, my son is gone from this earth, from my reach, from my arms. I need his hugs to help me through this.

In less than a moment, my lovely son was killed in a hit-and-run. There are no more memories to make. Please everyone stay safe, and make good decisions on our roadways; this Mama is begging you.

It was going to be the most romantic date of my life with the love of my life. My husband of ten years, father of my two small daughters and co-owners of a 50 person interior design and architectural firm with a team we loved creating beautiful spaces for clients.

On the way home though, my amazing husband Chad died on Valentine’s Day because of a hit and run car crash. Four young men in a black mustang unaware they had merged into our lane clipping the front corner of our vehicle causing us to spin out of control hitting a light pole that toppled down and hit his head. It missed me completely.

I survived, but my life was shattered at that moment. Blood was splattered on my soft peach colored angora sweater and ruined. Everything was ruined in which I had worked towards building a beautiful life with someone who loved me immensely. The culprits who caused the crash were never found after they left the scene, even though I yelled out to them “Look at what you’ve done!”.

On that exact day, at the hospital, after determining he was brain dead, Chad donated his real heart to a matching organ donor, a gentleman who was near death named Greg from Virginia.

Two years later, I met Greg when he traveled to Orlando with his family after exchanging letters anonymously during that entire time. It’s rare that recipient and donor families meet in the world of organ donation, but it was important for all of us to help us heal. It was an emotional gathering to say the least. He was the same age as my Chad, 36, married for the same amount of time, 10 years, and had two small children the same age as ours, two and four.

Chad donated all the tissue and organs he could. We had discussed this years before as a couple. We always had important conversations to be prepared for the “what if’s”.

But one thing Chad needed was whole blood during the short hours after the crash as he  struggled with the severe head trauma that ultimately took his life.

So, I’ve decided that from now on, I’m going to donate blood on his Angelversary Feb. 14 as a way to honor his legacy and remember his blessing of life.

Love Always In All Ways  a new tradition is made.

Thank you for letting me share my Driving Down Heartache story.

Carolyn Moor
Founder of Modern Widows Club and Widow Advocate

These markers memorialize the preventable crash that killed my parents, John and Helen Prinos. 

They will be missed greatly by their sons Michael, Gary, and myself (Scott). They had two wonderful daughters-in-law Shawn and Alla, four grandchildren, Matthew, Liliya, Daniel, and Sasha, and two great-grandchildren, Damien and Elias. They were eagerly awaiting another great-grand child. They also had Molly a rescued cat. Their family and friends were all shocked and saddened by this tragedy.

Dad had joined the U.S. Army when he was 17 years old and served at the tail end of World War II and in Korea in the Military Police. He was awarded a WWII Victory Medal and an Army Occupation Medal. Following his service, he met mom at her place of employment where she was a sales-clerk. They were married on September 1, 1951. We had just celebrated their 70^th wedding anniversary a few months before the crash.

Mom and Dad had a wide variety of interests, a love of discovery, a sense of adventure, and a love of God and His creation. Mom and Dad were very active in the local community and the church. In the Lutheran churches they attended in Illinois and Arkansas, Mom participated in the choir and bell choir and Dad was an elder. Dad was also a troop leader for the Boy Scouts. Mom and Dad loved gardening, bird watching, photography, hiking, camping, beach time, and road trips. Dad enjoyed collecting rocks and fossils and exploring mountains and caves.  Mom filled gobs of photo albums with pictures of our family adventures. Photography is a love she passed on to us. They both loved animals and had many pets including cats, dogs, canaries, gerbils, tropical fish, and even a monkey. 

Mom and Dad also loved the ocean. About 50 years ago, Mom and Dad took my brothers and I on a family vacation to Florida. This was the first time we had all flown in a jet airliner and we were so excited. But this was far from the last trip they made. They visited Hawaii twice, Alaska once, took several cruises, and had traveled to many states in the country. After I moved down to Florida, they had come down several times to visit prior to moving down permanently. They moved to Fort Pierce in April 2018, to enjoy the beautiful weather, beaches, and restaurants. 

January 8^th 2022 was a beautiful morning. We were heading from their condo in Fort Peirce to the beach in Vero Beach to visit one of their favorite restaurants that is at the board walk. This was Mom and Dad’s last day on earth, but the first day of their greatest adventure in heaven. 

While Mom and Dad are with God now and at peace, those of us left behind are devastated and in pain.

 In just seconds a beautiful day turned into heartbreak for all of us. Mom and Dad were just innocent passengers in this senseless crash, which could easily have been avoided. How many times have we heard the warnings, please don’t drink or do drugs and drive? Yet there are still many who ignore these warnings. Tragedies like these can be the result.

The story behind the mile marker at the corner of A1A and Aqua Rae Dr in Hutchinson Island, FL represents our 13-year-old son, James “Jamie” Francis McHenry IV, who was hit and killed at that intersection while crossing the street with his best friend to get snacks while he was on a Spring Break trip in 2013.  It was his first vacation away without us.   

Losing him has been beyond devastating for our family.  Jamie was a larger-than-life, quick-witted, funny, well-loved boy.  He was very athletic and loved all sports but was particularly a passionate lacrosse player.  He had a mischievous smile and a splattering of freckles on his face.  We formed The Jamie McHenry Memorial Foundation to honor our boy and raise funds to give back to the Atlanta sports community, of which he was a huge part. 

Each year, we host The RocketShot 5k to raise funds to give back to our community in the form of scholarships, character awards and for school improvements, all in Jamie’s memory.    Jamie’s old lacrosse coach has formed a competitive travel, club lacrosse team, called, “Team 8”.  Players for Team 8 are hand-selected by Jamie’s former coach and the team is composed of players from over 15 different local high schools in our area.  Each player on Team 8 has the number 8 in their number, but no one wears the number 8 as it was Jamie’s number, alone.  We have raised over $80,000 in the past almost 9 years. 

Although it will never replace him,  It is our way of continuing to take care of Jamie… a son, friend, and brother, who is missed every single day.  To learn more about Jamie, visit www.liveforjamie.com. 

7/21/93 – 1/18/21
Mary Kathryn Otto-Mennicke 10/31/40 – 6/15/20

I am the daughter of Mary Kathryn Otto-Mennicke and the mom of Amber Victoria Kelso. Within a year they both lost their lives in two different incidences to roadway tragedy. I would love to share who they were in this life and what they meant to me and others. They are deeply missed.

My mother loved Jesus, first and foremost. She also loved music (she was a classical musician), her dogs (she trained therapy dogs), her siblings, children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, and nature – especially butterflies and flowers.

My daughter loved her son, Conner. It was very important to her that he be raised in a Christian home. She loved her parents, her sisters and brother, and was especially close to her brother, Jayson, who was with her when she died. She was a free spirit who loved driving trucks and motorcycles, listening to country music, fishing, and playing the piano. Amber traveled throughout the United States many times and never tired of the beauty in nature – the mountains and oceans. Her nickname was “Tree frog”.

My mother would pray for you and my daughter was loyal to a fault. Both my mother and daughter would give you their last dime if you needed it.

At my mother’s crash site, I want people to feel peace – the kind you receive from God’s grace. She always said she was ready to go to heaven whenever Christ called her home. She is at peace and she would want others to know the peace that comes from knowing God.

At my daughter’s crash site, I would want people to feel her energy – the free spirit she was. She was adventurous and loved being with like-minded people. She loved to laugh and could easily make others laugh. Those whom she loved, she loved without reservation.

My mother taught me that nowhere in the bible does it say, “God helps those who help themselves”. From that I gathered we are to help others, selflessly, even when they cannot, or do not, choose to improve their situation. We keep helping and we pray for them. We do what Christ called us to do for others and let God work on them.

A lot of people will probably tell you they learned how to love, unconditionally, when they had children. I learned that and so much more from Amber. Mostly, I learned when you think you can’t love someone any more than you already do, when they leave forever, you realize how wrong you were.

My mother would want to be remembered for her faith in God, her music, and her love for animals and others. She left behind many poems and stories about her life, but the one constant in all of them was the love for her Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amber would want people to remember how much she loved her son and how important is to enjoy life and live to its fullest, always seeking out the next adventure. Her laugh was infectious and she would want people to keep laughing and know that even when things are difficult, you don’t give up because there’s something better coming.

In sharing my personal story and hope you could place yourselves in my shoes for a moment and think about what life would be like if the people closest to YOU left forever, if there could never be one last hug or kiss or “I love you”. Everybody has someone who loves them. The sudden loss of a loved one is devastating; it’s not something from which you simply recover.

Moving on is difficult without closure and there is often no justice when someone dies in a crash. If they could imagine separating the rest of their days into “life before______” and “life after______”, that’s how you go on. It redefines who you are and how you see the world. It causes great trauma to children who aren’t able to understand how someone can be there one minute and gone forever, the next. They don’t have the coping mechanisms adults have and a death is even more destructive to them.

I want people to know that traffic crashes are preventable events. People do not have to die because they use our roadways. If people had been more careful and aware of their surroundings, my mother and daughter would still be here and I wouldn’t be talking to others about road safety and responsibility. I hope no one who hears my story experiences the loss of a loved one from a traffic crash, but that everyone would choose to make responsible driving decisions which will make our roadways safer.

Both my mother’s and daughter’s crashes were preventable. Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians all need to understand the roadways are no different than any other part of a community – they are accessible to everyone, equally. How you choose to access those spaces should determine the level of responsibility you have to occupy them and the degree of respect you must have for others who are sharing those spaces. If you are in a vehicle, you have an obligation to be mindful of people in the roadway who are not as well protected, such as pedestrians and cyclists. If you are a pedestrian, you have an obligation to use caution, as cars cannot stop as quickly as you can and being the smaller of the two, you are harder to see. If you are a cyclist, you need to be aware of blinds spot experienced by drivers in cars and trucks, and stay away from the turning radius of any other vehicle. Everyone has an equal right to use the roadways, but they also have an equal responsibility to keep others safe.

I want road markers to act as a memory jogger – a tool which, when seen by motorists, reminds them to continuously assess their surroundings and practice safety measures that will keep themselves, and others, alive.

In loving memory, Miriam Moore.