It is with heavy hearts that we watch the approach of the one-year anniversary of the devastating car crash that took the lives of five local teenagers last fall.
The shock and horror of the news, the incredible loss for the families and friends and for the Harwood Union and Kimball Union Academy communities feels like yesterday.
But it will be a full year on Sunday, October 8.
In the passage of time, the driver of the car who caused the crash, Steven Bourgoin, has been indicted and is in jail and in the fullness of time he will be called to answer to his crimes. But that provides little or no solace to those mourning five vibrant, young lives.
A year ago, we promised – as a community – to hold and support the families and friends of Eli Brookens, 16, of Waterbury; Janie Chase Cozzi, 15, of Fayston; Liam Hale, 16, of Fayston; Mary Harris, 16, of Moretown; and Cyrus Zschau, 16, of Moretown who died in the wrong-way driving crash on I-89.
Let’s hope we have. Let’s hope we keep doing so and offering whatever solace and support we can and that we offer as many shoulders necessary for crying on and leaning up against.
These young people are not forgotten. Their lives were not lived in vain. They are remembered and celebrated and loved. They were and are part of our community. They are celebrated and loved in a new pavilion at the recreation fields at Mad River Park in Waitsfield.
They are remembered and loved in a gazebo being unveiled and dedicated in their memory today at Harwood Union. They are remembered and loved thousands of times a day by those they left behind.
Our hearts are heavy this week, heavy with remembering, heavy with the weight of grief and heavy with the hurt of a loss that echoed deeply through the community.
Keep remembering and keep celebrating and keep supporting each other as this first anniversary of this tragedy approaches and passes.
