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.
