Today, 6 years ago, I started the longest, darkest, and most difficult journey I have ever been on. The 3rd of September will forever be a difficult day, as it brings back a tremendous amount of painful memories. Today is the first time since the day everything changed where the third falls on a Saturday. I remember the day in such detail: what I had done and what I was going to be doing. The 3rd of September 2016 was a hot summer day and we were going to the Fiesta Hermosa with some friends. I remember we were looking forward to a long weekend, ending with a Labor Day beach day with the gym. And I remember saving this video from Mishel’s instagram, because I wanted to repost it because I thought it was cute. I still have the video on my phone but I never got to post it. Instead, my following post was a goodbye to my son.
The trajectory of my life changed that day in a forceful, immediate, and absolute way. I experienced emotions, thoughts, and pain I didn’t know existed. Although the course of my life was permanently changed, at first, there was nothing at all, there was just darkness. Then, there was a long road of putting pieces back together again but during it all, there was always the burning flame of making sure that Liam’s passing wouldn’t be in vain. That Liam wouldn’t just be a number among the 10,497 lives taken that year.
Liam is still a big part of everything we do on a daily basis. His siblings talk about him and miss him. His little brother sees him in his dreams and his little sister calls him “Lima,” because she can’t pronounce his name properly. Nico started school last week and Luna just put on her first BJJ gi last night and of course, the thoughts always go to Liam and what it would have been like to have those moments with him.
Since that day, the 3rd of September, 2016, over 60,000 Americans have lost their lives to drunk drivers. Since that day, American taxpayers have had to pay more than $792 billion dollars in costs associated with drunk driving crashes. Since that day, I continue to fight to change these numbers, so that other parents don’t have to have a 3rd of September. Join that fight by supporting and following www.LiamsLife.org.
This Labor Day Weekend, don't drink and drive and don't let a friend drink and drive. #rememberLiam