Girlfriend's Final Texting

After my daughter watched the movie "Seven Pounds," she became my driving conscience. This movie had such an impact on her, that even the threat of me putting her out of my car and onto the highway did not prevent her from warning me about the dangers of texting and driving. I feel that I am a relatively smart and responsible individual. Therefore, I try not to tell my children to do or not do things that I myself cannot follow. I admit, it irritated me to have my pre-teen constantly remind me that texting while driving was unsafe. However, a good parent knows that if he or she wants a child to do the right thing, then the parent is the first true model of that desired behavior.

When the city of Cincinnati passed the ordinance banning texting while driving, I began to take heed. Never mind the $150 fine. My daughter now had further ammo to aim at me whenever my text alert would sound and I instantly reached for my cellphone to respond. It took me throwing my phone in the back of the car to make me seriously stop texting and driving. Well, let's just say, it is down to a minimum.

I read this story about the girlfriend who, on her way to classes, decided to text what she did not know would be her final messages to her boyfriend. I am quite positive that this behavior was routine for her, but on this fateful day, tragedy struck, and what researchers have shown in statistics and other data became a reality for the boyfriend she left behind. Their final messages to each other were, “I love you too and I’ll try to make you happy," and “I would have liked to hear your beautiful voice before but…we’ll talk tonight before 6:00…good day at school bb and I kiss you all over :).” Then finally, his feeling that all was not well when she did not respond to "Is all well my heart?” and “I’m a little worried here.”

I do not want this to happen to me and definitely not while my loved ones are in a car with me. I cannot imagine a text or even email that important to lose my life or cause me to take the lives of others. I will try and be more responsible and my heart goes out to anyone who can connect to this article.