June 16, 1990

It was nearing the end of the day that Friday when I received her call at work. I picked up the phone and knew immediately who it was. “Hey! I have great news!” she said. It was my high school best friend and college roommate, Carey, and she had a real excitement in her voice. She started off by telling me that the financial decisions she made recently were finally squared away. She was beyond happy and it seemed as if a big weight had been lifted off her. I was very happy for her too.

After chatting about it a few minutes, she mentioned that she, our roommate, and a few other friends were heading to a neighboring college that evening to attend a party. Knowing it was my turn to make the trip to my boyfriend’s family’s home that weekend, she asked “Why not call Mark and tell him to come here instead? That way we can all go to the party together!” I must admit I seriously gave it some thought those few moments, but knew Mark and his parents were expecting me to arrive at their home within the next few hours. The change would have been very last minute and it probably wouldn’t have gone over well. “I wish I could, but I better just stick with going to his place.", I told her. "Don’t have too much fun without me though!”

After spending a whirlwind day and a half with Mark, I cozied up on his family's fold-out couch in the den. He went off to his bedroom to get some sleep. I was exhausted, but eager to spend Father's Day with him and his family the next day.

The sunlight peeked through the windows in the early morning hours, attempting to wake my body...but I would have nothing to do with it. I rolled away from the sheer-covered window to avoid having to actually get out of bed. In my haziness, I could hear someone in the adjoining family room mention the words "Carey" and "her car was so small"...I thought it was part of a dream I was having.

Mark opened the door to my room and I knew it must be time for my butt to finally wake up. I rolled back around to see that he was carrying a newspaper and had a look on his face I'd never seen before. "I don't know how to tell you this..." his voice cracked, as he handed me the paper. I looked at the front page and saw Carey's name immediately, even before reading the headline. "What?! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God! Oh, my God!" I wailed. "That's not right! It can't be real!"

The headline read, Three Die in Wrong Way Accident .

I continued to read in confusion and disbelief to see that Carey, along with our good friend Jeff, and my roommate's boyfriend, Frank, had all been killed by a drunk driver in the early Saturday morning hours as they headed home from the party. Two others, my good friend Kathy and roommate Carm, were left in critical condition. The drunk driver had unknowingly entered an exit ramp of the highway and headed westbound into oncoming eastbound traffic. My friends were one of those heading east.

I found out later that day, I wasn't contacted sooner with the news because those that knew where I was that weekend, were all in the car.
It took nearly three years for me to be able to tell Carey's story, or to even bring up her name for that matter, without getting a huge lump in my throat - without having tears well up in my eyes. It was very similar to what I am feeling now as I write this. We were inseparable.

So to Carey, Jeff, and Frank - We recognize greatly twenty-one-years-old is way too young to be taken away from us.

Twenty years later you are all still loved and very missed.