3-15-91

March 15, 1991...Spring Break was on the horizon. My cousin Lisa was visiting from Dallas, and we sat around the dining table eating macaroni and cheese as we talked about our plans for the week. Aaah, yes..a week full of waking up at noon, prank calling our innocent victims, eating pringles till they made us sick, and watching soap operas. Could life get any better?

Unfortunately, this wasn't how the events of the week unfolded because that night as we sat around the dining table talking...the phone rang. It's amazing how it only takes one instant to change your world...to turn your happiness into sadness...to remind you how mortal you are. My sister picked up the phone, and the smile that she had on her face from laughing at me and Lisa...turned into a look of shock within seconds. She hung up the phone and told us that our cousin Binou had been in a fatal car accident.

My 16-year-old cousin left his house that day, coming back in 3 times for various different reasons before he finally left for the last time. His mother says, that perhaps in some strange way, he knew what was going to happen...that he'd never come back. He got in his car and followed his friends to their hang out spot that day. The two cars were racing...and needless to say, the negligence caused Binou his life.

Today, I try not to focus on his death...but his life. At 16, he embraced life...he was the best story teller I knew. We spent many Sunday afternoons talking and playing karams...and most of all just laughing. That's what Binou did best....laugh and make others laugh with his crazy tales and happy spirit. He would have been 29 years old today...I'm sure today, he is thought of by many...his parents, brothers, friends, cousins....and his neices who never knew him. And, I'm sure he's in heaven...with the rest of our loved ones who we miss dearly...watching over us from a better place.