A Look Back

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon in January that my family and I went to 'The Site' where my beautiful husband, my best friend, my confidante, my Super Hero, my forever love was ripped from my life, the lives of his children, his mother, sisters, and countless friends. This was one of the many 'firsts' that I would walk through since that horrible day, the first time to see that place where all of the devastation took place. This was a ceremony to mark the second year since the Metrolink train derailment and the unveiling of the Atwater Village Train Derailment Memorial (permanent) across the street from the crash scene. It was a bitter-sweet moment. Many city officials were on hand to speak. They remembered that morning, the eleven people who were killed, the many who were injured, and the selfless actions of the Costco employees as the first responders.
Emotions ran high as the memories came flooding back. I have attached a picture here of my son Alex and his wife as he grieves for his father.

Here is a video stream from a report on the ABC News on January 26, 2006 that voices the concerns that we all have with the metrolink and the 'Push-Pull" debate. I apologize for the mention of the person that left his jeep on the tracks. It is not my intention to give him any place on my blog, but he is a factor in the equation. Please, watch this video. I believe that you will be surprised by what you see. There is a particularly poignant piece that shows a commuter train in the Ventura area plowing through a strawberry truck without stopping. There were no injuries, no deaths. It was being pulled.
My heart goes out to all who's lives were forever changed on that day.

Never Forget

I know how life is. we see a horrific accident with many killed and maimed, or how many lost their lives that day in Iraq. We think how awful it is for the individuals and their families. We talk about it for a couple of days then something else catches our eye, and the thing that happened last week is pushed to the back of our minds. That is how it works.

My life ended that morning of January 26,2005 along with my husband's. The difference being, that I walk this earth in my empty shell trying to find my way.He was one of the eleven that trusted the Metrolink. He believed that they would never do anything to put him or anyone else in harms way. The problem is that this tragic derailment was avoidable! It has been a well-known fact since the 1980's that the 'Push-Pull' system, as is used on the Metrolink trains in Los Angeles, is an extremely dangerous system. So much so that those within the transportation industry refer to the first car of the pushed train (where my husband was sitting) the "COFFIN CAR". It did not get that name by accident.

I will post some pictures to remind us of what happened on that day and all the lives that were lost and forever changed.

My Wings are Broken

On January 26, 2005 at 6:00 am, my life froze in an instant and shattered leaving me with a million pieces on the floor. Those pieces will never fit back together again because the biggest and best piece of me is not here! I remember the terror that flooded my entire being when I turned on the radio and all I could hear them say was that they were "leaving the dead bodies in the train." Up to that point, I was certain that he was fine - probably out helping some other poor injured passengers to escape. Not even the seriousness in Max' voice ordering me to "Come home now, Mom" had clued me in to the seriousness of the situation. But in that moment my whole being reacted. I was frantic and somewhere deep inside my soul I knew that I would not be seeing his beautiful face again!!
That day, it was as if someone had pulled a tiny string of my life and yanked it hard and long until it was completely in a heap on the floor.
My husband Manuel D. Alcala was the author of the past 30 years of my life. He put his imprint on my soul from the day we met and continued to amaze me with his love, knowledge and happiness until he would meet his end in the Metrolink train #100 going south on his way to work, his body so mangled and destroyed that he could not be shown at his funeral.
I am making it my life's purpose to find a way that this will never happen to another person, family, life! Please, join with me to make a difference.