Saturday, February 26, 2011

Gavin and Matt

For the past week, I have not been able to get Gavin and Matt out of my mind. Type "Gavin and Matt" on Google and a dozen news stories pop up. Their names made local headline news. But the headlines were not the type any parent wants to see.

Gavin and Matt died while rafting down a local rain-swollen bay area creek last Saturday. They were seventeen years old, teenagers out to have some fun on a rainy afternoon, unaware of the hidden dangers that lay ahead. Its a story that touched the hearts of many people, people who didn't personally know the two boys, myself included.

Their friends posted tributes to the boys on Facebook, including a couple of videos of Gavin that just made me laugh, and reminded me of my own son at at that age. So creative, so funny, so full of life, so unaware that anything bad could possibly happen to them.

When your kids are toddlers, parents have to constantly watch that they don't wander into the street, or fall into a pool. When they become teenagers, you have to gradually let go, and let them make their own decisions. Sometimes they make good decisions and sometimes they make decisions that have less than optimal outcomes. Regardless, most of our children survive to adulthood.

A few are just not as lucky.

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