IN MEMORY OF MY BROTHER ~ PLEASE DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!

Raymond Michael Lack 1972~1994 ~Killed By a Drunk Driver~

This is a story that I hope you will not soon forget! This is a picture of my older brother and my best friend. You see we were very close as siblings go; we did just about everything together when we were growing up. When my brother turned 19 he made the decision to enlist in the Army. He made it through basic training, with a smile, then off he went to serve in Korea, when he finished there he came home to visit before heading off to Fort Worth Texas. We had a wonderful visit, but he was so rushed to get so much done in a short amount of time that it just was not enough time and little did any of us know it was time that we would never get back. My brother bought himself a car while visiting, a white Geo Metro, he was proud that he would be able to drive himself to where he needed to go and off he went on his journey to Fort Worth, Texas. I thought I was alone in my feelings that something was wrong, I thought I was just missing him that much, I forgot to tell him that I loved him, but my dad said it would be OK and he knows that I love him, I felt so uneasy, something was not right. I went on with the rest of my day and went to coffee with a friend, which was a normal nightly thing for me to do, although I was still uneasy I thought it best to get my mind off the situation. As I sat and drank my coffee I felt my side vibrate, I looked down at my pager it read my dad's phone number with 911 after. I started to flip out, I had never had a 911 page before, I ran to the phone, but no one would tell me until I came home. When I arrived my dad and his girlfriend (Now my stepmom) were sitting on the couch looking very sad, I asked, 'What's going on?'My dad sad, 'You need to sit down.' So I sat beside him and he put his arm around me and he began to tell me that 2 Army men had just left and that Raymond was killed by a drunk driver just a few hours ago, he did not suffer he was killed instantly, but that did not relieve my pain. I cried harder than I had ever cried before, I shouted, 'NO, NO, NO!' How could this happen to MY BROTHER!! The most beautiful person, the most funny, outgoing, promising person, whom I loved and still love soooooo much! I couldn't sleep, every time I closed my eyes I could see his accident. My beautiful, wonderful full of life brother. I wanted to believe that it was just a dream, but it wasn't! My brother died February 6, 1994 and was buried February 14, 1994. The man that killed my brother never served one day in jail, he was not injured from the head on collision. My brother did not even have a chance to react, the drunk driver was going up the wrong side of the road on a steep hill and they basically met at the peak of the hill. Raymond had no warning; in a flash he was gone. My children will never have the opportunity to know their amazing Uncle Raymond. He would have been an Awesome Uncle! They know him by the pictures displayed all over our home, they know he was killed at too young of an age by a man who had too much to drink, but chose to drive anyway, but they will never truly know him as a person. My brother wanted to be a D.J. and he was very good at it, my brother loved music and he was an incredible artist. But no one thinks of those things when they choose to get behind the wheel after having a few too many drinks, they only think of it after, after a loved ones life is taken needlessly! PLEASE DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE! PLEASE! This is my story and there are thousands of others just like it every year. Please think before you make the decision to get in your car after having too much to drink!