Gertie Portraits: http://www.thekarths.com/blog/warsawinweddingphotographer/personal/gertiefeature
http://www.thekarths.com/blog/warsaw-in-family-photographer/personal/the-gertie-portraits
Category Archives: AnnaLeah and Mary
“We can and must do better than this at protecting people before profits.” Louis V. Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims
“As for the root cause of failures to protect the public in corporations and government regulatory agencies, consider money.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” 1 Timothy 6:10
Whether it be relentless cost cutting demands by OEMs or the corruption of government regulatory policy the root cause is money.
Whether it be airbags exploding dangerously, or airbags not deploying when needed examination will find money at the root of corporate and governmental failures to protect. See report of June 2014 at
http://www.
We can and must do better than this at protecting people before profits.”
Louis V. Lombardo, Care for Crash Victims
To the Tiger at the Zoo…Mary would have said, “Pooh, pooh!”
Jerry and I just got back from a Trip North and got a chance to go to a zoo with Sam & Naomi. Mary would have loved it. Mary enjoyed zoos. She would have been taking pictures of the noisy tiger.
(Wish she could have. . .)
AnnaLeah & Mary… “They are where they belong.” May 18, 2013
AnnaLeah and Mary spent the first half of their lives growing up in West Michigan. They spent the second half in West Texas. Because of the many people who knew our family, we had decided to have two funerals–the first on May 18, 2013, in Midland, Texas, and the second on June 8, 2013, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
We are immeasurably grateful for the support of countless people across the country who helped make these arrangements possible for our family and shared with us in this very difficult time of our lives.
This is from May 18, 2013:
“Where have all the flowers gone?” When will we ever learn? (A truck crash ballad)
So, you know, this spring I had a grand idea of planting a sunflower & morning glory house. Plant the sunflowers in a rectangle & then plant the morning glory seeds so that they can climb up those tall, sturdy sunflower stems. Marcus and Vanessa helped me plant the seeds. http://articles.latimes.com/1998/jul/25/home/hm-6860
Mary at 2 by a sunflower watching Gertie
It was going well. The sunflowers had started to grow and had reached a second level of leaves. So, I had planted the morning glories and they, too, started to sprout. Then, yesterday, I went to check on them and some creature had decided to feast upon the sunflower leaves. Almost all of them.
A sunflower seed made it through the germination phase.
Some creature nibbled away on this fragile seedling–
and left the morning glories to fend for themselves.
Okay, I had tried growing one of these years ago without success–due to picking a too-shady garden plot. I wasn’t really surprised or devastated that it wasn’t going how I had hoped. But, this time, the bad news came after days and days of remembering our loss of AnnaLeah and Mary. And it was AnnaLeah’s birthday. . .
After my discovery, I just couldn’t seem to hold it together anymore. My eyes became leaky and I had to work extra hard to distract myself. It wasn’t just a sabotaged sunflower house; it was a symbol of our greater loss–over which I had no control and which I could do nothing to prevent or fix.
(Did you have to remind me of those convoluted truck safety issues which just don’t seem to get resolved –caught up in an endless political process and too-often getting set aside for “more important” matters, as if those 4,000 deaths–on average every year–which lead to pain-without-end are meaningless?)
Fast forward to this morning early–when I could not get back to sleep–when I realized another distressing fact: now I have planted a garden of healthy morning glories (well, until they too might get eaten), whose very destiny was to climb but who will have nothing to climb upon. What have I done?
And how well I can relate (this mother of nine with two who are no more). . .
Adding to the creative work of Pete Seeger & Joe Hickerson (http://performingsongwriter.com/pete-seeger-flowers-gone/):
“Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing?
Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago?
Where have all the flowers gone?
Young girls have picked them every one.
Oh, when will they ever learn?
Oh, when will they ever learn?”
Where have all the loved ones gone, long time passing?
Where have all the loved ones gone, long time ago?
Where have all the loved ones gone?
Truck crashes took them every one.
Oh, when will we ever learn?
Oh, when will we ever learn?
Of course, writing about it does not change anything. But the words bring a measure of healing.
My Favorite Memories of AnnaLeah (well, some of them)
Remembering AnnaLeah’s birthday, I took some time to recall moments from her life. How do you pick favorite memories when there will be no new ones? I’d be here all day and fill up the internet.
Just born. . .
Painting at our new house while Isaac watches baby AnnaLeah. . .
AnnaLeah napping with her dad and brother Levi. . .
Riding happily on the rocking horse her grandpa made with her sister Rebekah. . .
Coming home for the first time. . .
Sleeping in the laundry basket. . .
Riding on my back. . .
Being read to. . .
With her big brother Sam–and one of the few times in her life with hardly any hair. . .
Getting into the fridge and SPILLING THE BAG OF RAISINS and EATING the CAT FOOD. . .
With her big brother Peter and Maggie The Cat. . .
Reading books & needing bells on her shoes when she was crawling around because we never knew where she went to in the house. . .
Fell asleep while eating. . .
Acting as Junior in Veggie Tales. . .
When AnnaLeah had the idea to get Mary a St. Bernard stuffed toy for her birthday. . .
With her stuffed dog, Spunky, who got lost when we were packing up to go home from Great-Aunt Flossie’s cottage. . .
Falling asleep while playing during Quiet Time. . .
In the VBS Parade. . .
Playing with her many stuffed toys (especially dogs) and checking all of the dog books out of the Walker Public Library. . .
Having fun with her siblings–every day. . .
Spending time with her grandma in Florida. . .
Spending time with her grandpa. . .when she was little…
And when she got bigger, and stayed in Michigan with him when he was not able to take care of himself. . .
Wiped out on a road trip. . .
Hiking in the woods. . .
With Marcus and Vanessa. . .
Having a good time with Mary. . .
At the confirmation of her faith. . .
Always creative. . .
At Camp Lone Star. . .
At her sister’s graduation. . .
At The Lake. . .
Reading. . .
AnnaLeah’s 30 Category Booklist
Writing. . .
Just AnnaLeah. . .
Time & A Grief Observed: Reflections from CS Lewis & AnnaLeah Karth
Today is the day that AnnaLeah was born 20 years ago. Though she only lived 17 years (almost 18), she filled her time with imaginative & colorful activities and endeavors. Time well-spent.
AnnaLeah had a personal collection of over 600 books–most of which she had read. And she loved to create and share imaginative worlds with words. A wordsmith. . . Here is a poem she wrote when she was 12:
AnnaLeah enjoyed the books of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, and I am sure that she would have loved to live at the time when The Inklings met in England to discuss the sorts of things she thrived on. So, when I recently read A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis, I couldn’t help but think of AnnaLeah.
Here are some excerpts from that book which especially resonated with me:
- You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death to you. It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong and sound as long as you are merely using it to cord a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a precipice. Wouldn’t you then first discover how much you really trusted it? (pp. 22-23)
- It is hard to have patience with people who say, ‘There is no death’ or ‘Death doesn’t matter.’ There is death. And whatever is matters. And whatever happens has consequences, and it and they are irrevocable and irreversible. You might as well say that birth doesn’t matter. I look up at the night sky. Is anything more certain than that in all those vast times and spaces, if I were allowed to search them, I should nowhere find her face, her voice, her touch? She died. She is dead. Is the word so difficult to learn? (p. 15)
- Kind people have said to me, ‘She is with God.’ In one sense that is most certain. . . But I find that this question, however important it may be in itself, is not after all very important in relation to grief. . . You tell me, ‘she goes on.’ But my heart and body are crying out, come back, come back. Be a circle, touching my circle on the plane of Nature. But I know this is impossible. I know that the thing I want is exactly the thing I can never get….It is a part of the past. And the past is the past and that is what time means, and time itself is one more name for death, and Heaven itself is a state where ‘the former things have passed away.’ (pp. 24-25)
- Reality never repeats. The exact same thing is never taken away and given back. . . For that is what we should all like. The happy past restored. And that, just that, is what I cry out for, with mad, midnight endearments and entreaties spoken into the empty air. (p. 26)
- And poor C. quotes to me, ‘Do not mourn like those that have no hope.’ It astonishes me, the way we are invited to apply to ourselves words so obviously addressed to our betters. What St. Paul says can comfort only those who love God better than the dead, and the dead better than themselves. If a mother is mourning not for what she has lost but for what her dead child has lost, it is a comfort to believe that the child has not lost the end for which it was created. And it is a comfort to believe that she herself, in losing her chief or only natural happiness, has not lost a greater thing, that she may still hope to ‘glorify God and enjoy Him forever.’ A comfort to the God-aimed, eternal spirit within her. But not to her motherhood. The specifically maternal happiness must be written off. Never, in any place or time, will she have her son on her knees, or bathe him, or tell him a story, or plan for his future, or see her grandchild. (pp. 26-27)
Remembering AnnaLeah Two Years After the Crash
Two years ago, May 4, 2013, AnnaLeah went on her last journey on this earth. Little did she know it at the time.
She had worked so hard before we set out for Texas to go to her sister Rebekah’s wedding and college graduations of four older siblings. We were going to be moving into a new home on the Fourth of July. So, she had packed up most of her possessions in preparation for sharing a bedroom with her older sister, Susanna. She had sewn a lovely dress for her niece’s birthday. I was so proud of her.
Then, it all came to an end.
I wanted to share this memorial photo slideshow which her older brother Isaac and sister Susanna put together two weeks later to share at the girls’ funeral. We remember AnnaLeah and the day she was born, May 15, 1995; she would have turned 20 today. Forever 17.
Underride Conversation with David Friedman, NHTSA Deputy Administrator
Shortly after we delivered the 11,000+ AnnaLeah & Mary Stand Up For Truck Safety Petitions to Washington, DC, we were invited to tour the research & design center of a tractor-trailer manufacturer. After doing so, my immediate reaction was to wonder what would ever bring about a major improvement in underride guard strength. And I wished that I could just sit down with the trailer manufacturers and hammer out a solution.
An underride (or rear impact) guard is required by federal law for some large trucks to prevent a vehicle from sliding underneath a truck in the event of a collision. Too often, these guards–as in our crash–even if they meet specifications, are properly installed, and are maintained, do not withstand the crash and the smaller vehicle slides under the truck. As a result, life-saving technologies are not put into effect and there is intrusion into the passenger compartment.
In other words, the back of the truck comes into contact with people in the smaller vehicle who then experience horrific injuries and–too often–death.
I emailed many people–hoping to drum up some interest in addressing this issue jointly. When I found out that there was going to be a new administrator, Mark Rosekind, at NHTSA, I wrote to him and asked that NHTSA host an underride roundtable discussion.
After exchanging a few emails, I was contacted by his scheduling assistant, who said that we would have a phone call in mid-February. As it turns out, that conversation never took place. Instead, Mark Rosekind arranged for me to speak on the phone with David Friedman, Deputy Administrator at NHTSA, on March 27, 2015.
When we met with DOT on May 5, 2014, David Friedman was the one who told me that he would let me know when a rulemaking was announced for underride guards. And he did so on July 9, 2014 (after promising that they would make a decision in two months, he was very close!): https://annaleahmary.com/2014/07/nhtsa-has-initiated-a-rulemaking-process-to-evaluate-options-for-improving-underride-guards/ . So, it was fitting that he would be the one to let me know about any progress on meeting our petition requests.
We discussed my hopes for an underride roundtable–to bring together those who could do something about improving underride guards. David told me that–while NHTSA would like to host such events–a discussion of underride would likely not occur until 2016. And, even then, it would probably be only one part of a broader truck safety conference.
That would definitely be a good thing but, in my mind, not give adequate attention to the underride issue. In fact, as we talked, it became clear that if an underride roundtable were going to occur, we would have to spearhead the effort.
So, after thanking him for the update, I scheduled a quarterly phone call for June–at which time he promised to provide me with information on the progress of the truck safety issues in our petition. Then I began brainstorming ways in which we could actually work to organize an underride roundtable–with NHTSA as potential participants.
Earlier, I had spoken about that possibility with John Lannen, Director of the Truck Safety Coalition. So, after speaking with David Friedman, I resumed that conversation. John and I came up with some initial steps to get the process underway. I made a few contacts, and so did he. As a result, we have had some interesting developments and hope to unveil the details soon.
Perhaps we are closer to seeing improvements in underride protection. Perhaps our loss can serve as a catalyst to encourage the development of The Best Possible Protection for preventing future losses from truck underride crashes.
Had it up to here with the impact of political battles on the safety of travelers on the road!
Maybe its’s just me–and my frustrated opinion–but I have had it up to here with the impact of political battles on the safety of travelers on the road.
Just one example is the HOS (Hours of Service) Rules which have been debated forever and a day. Back & forth, back & forth–until what are we left with but an unenforceable mess of regulations and little accountability for truck drivers who are too often driving fatigued, under pressure to drive too many hours to make a living.
Then there is the provision which ties the hands of DOT to increase minimum insurance levels (not done for 35 years)–though they have already issued a lengthy report saying that it is necessary.
And don’t forget the increase in truck length (Double 33s). . . do we really want to share the road with them & will the drivers be trained to handle them?
It seems to me that those who have crafted & approved the anti-safety provisions in the FY2016 THUD Appropriations Bill have either had the wool pulled over their eyes or care very little for the human lives that are ended on a daily basis–whose blood is spilled on the highways of our country.
There has got to be a better way to move this mountain! It’s a matter of life & death.
