EDITORIAL: TALK TO YOUR YOUNG DRIVERS
Kevin Normington
I miss my youth for one main reason: That feeling of invincibility that accompanies youth is gone. My favorite departments in the good old days were English, Political Science and History. Now they are more than likely to be Urology, Gastroenterology and Rheumatology.
All the same, I’ve made it into my 50s. I’m more vulnerable but I am alive. That said, I feel a deep sense of loss upon thinking of three young men here in our community who were denied this gift of old age: Ramsey Jarrar, Kevin Normington and Tim Dewhurst. They were all talented Bonita athletes who could play multiple sports (I know because I often had to coach against them and their dads whether it was Little League, City League Basketball or Pop Warner), but Ramsey was most known for basketball, Kevin for football and Tim for baseball.
It’s a touch ironic that they represented three different sports, but they were all killed in automobile accidents: Ramsey and Kevin in 2007, and Tim in 2008. This month, the Bonita basketball program began an annual alumni game in Ramsey’s honor, and family and friends have established an annual memorial golf tournament in Kevin’s memory. As far as I know, nothing formal yet has been established for Tim, who pitched and patrolled centerfield for the Bearcats for four years not that long ago.
So kudos to our community for stepping it up, and being there to honor such fine young men. But maybe there’s even more we can do. Maybe we need to hold an annual candlelight vigil at our Glenn Davis stadium to remind especially our new drivers about the responsibilities and perils of getting behind the wheel – simple stuff like driving defensively and looking both ways to try to anticipate and avoid those speeding or impaired drivers from whichever direction they are coming. We know they’re coming, because most of us who have been behind the wheel for a few years have had our share of close calls.
Ramsey, Kevin and Tim were all great stand-up young men who were tragically taken from us. Honor them by talking to your own young drivers on ways to stay safe behind the wheel (setting curfews, designating drivers, checking the safety of the car, driving defensively and without distractons, etc.) especially now as we enter another holiday season.
We want our children to experience the blessings of old age.
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December 8th, 2009 at 9:08 am
I was doing my senior project with Kevin Normington, as co-basketball coaches for the city. Not only did I go to school since elementary with him he was my best friend. Not a day goes by that I dont thing about what the two of us gave for our basketball team that we coached. When the accident occur, the season was still going, so in memory of Kevin, even though our team did not make it to the top, I gave all the players a trophy in memory of Kevin. Just wanted to pass you some interesting information. Also, it will be 3 years on March 1, since he left our world. thank you
January 19th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
Ramsey was my son. He has been gone for over three years and I think about him every day. He had such a passion for life whether it was basketball, his friends & family , or his business. Thank you for the touching article.
Just today one of my co-worker’s 24 year old niece was killed in an accident, where the other driver was driving the wrong way on the freeway. This is just another case where youth were denied old age.