NOTE: For the family's privacy, the names in this TRUE story are the only things that are fictional.

In November 2002 we lost a very special person from this world. Her name was Lisa and she was our "Logistics Wizard" who looked after everything associated with mailing, shipping and distribution here at The Practice Marketers. Every day Lisa would greet us with her upbeat spirit and smile.

On a Monday late in November I received a terrible phone call. Lisa and her 9 year old son Jeffrey had been in a tragic accident. They had been t-boned by a drunk driver who ran a stop sign. They were driving home on a well traveled highway and the impaired driver never stopped. They were both killed.

One of Lisa's family members said to me at the funeral it was only "a second" either way for Lisa and Jeffrey's fate or survival. He said "if she had of been a second earlier or a second later." I wouldn't be retelling this terrible story because the impaired driver would have missed her car entirely!

Regrettably that didn't happen.

I think about Lisa and Jeffrey a lot. I remember Lisa would sometimes have Jeffrey with her when she was working. He loved playing with our mascot Redd (our golden retriever). He would throw the ball and Redd would run like crazy while Lisa and I were discussing the days events. Other times he would be playing his GameBoy intensely as he was waiting for Mom to finish up some final tasks.

What I learned later at the funeral was Jeffrey was more than a boy who wanted to throw a ball with his new companion (Redd) or play GameBoy. He had much more of a vision than that - Jeffrey wanted to be a scientist.

Reflecting back on this terrible tragedy, the thing that has affected me the most is the loss of Jeffrey. A bright young boy with a dream taken away in one second because of someone's stupidity. You can loose so much in a second.

I CHALLENGE YOU TO MAKE YOUR SECONDS COUNT TODAY!

Thank you for reading this story and I would appreciate the next time you are making a charitable donation you support MADD and think about Lisa and Jeffrey, and all the other families and friends who have lost their loved ones to drunk drivers.

Dan Mount
President - The Practice Marketers Inc.