First and Foremost

I know there is a brief About Me Section to list a Bio but that is never enough room to really tell someone about you or what you are about.

Well I have Teenage children and teen nieces and nephews, and in the last year they have lost three friends to Drunk Driving accidents. Maybe three isn't a large number when you compare this to the thousands lost every year (37,261 in 2008) but for the person who has lost someone even One is One to many! But to also put this in perspective we live in a very small community and to have a growing number of young lives lost to this 100% preventable cause is the reason I have started this Blog and B.U.D.D, (BACK UP DESIGNATED DRIVER). There has been many times my son has called me and told me the truth "Mom I am at a party and my friends are drinking, can I stay later and make sure they get home?" Granted I am not happy he is at a party with alcohol but I know he has taken my rantings to be safe to heart and is looking out for his friends too.
It has now come to the point that my son's friends trust me to get them home or somewhere safe if they have been drinking- I will state this right off I don't condone underage drinking but if a teenager calls me for a sober ride in the middle of the night I am going to give it to them without question. And if a parent wants to be mad at me for getting their child home alive and not telling them about the drinking as opposed to the kid trying to drive themselves then that is something I will just have to live with.
So in a nutshell that is what this blog is about, getting the message out that there is always someone somewhere that you can trust to get you home safely. I have put a Chip In Widget on my home page asking for donations to B.U.D.D because the number of rides is growing and I want to keep up. I plan on purchasing a vehicle used specifically for B.U.D.D and for anyone who contributes even $1 they can send the name of a lost loved one and the date of the loss to have that name and date permanently painted on the vehicle for display as our B.U.D.D 1.
We can make a difference! Not every person who drives drunk kills someone, some are lucky and get away with it, but for the ones that don't the ripple effect of the pain can never be measured or undone.