thanks very much. means a lot.

 

Very sorry to hear about your loss.

It is indeed quite dangerous to get tired on longer trips, had it happen to me a few times on 18 hours stretches. I usually solve it with a longer run for adrenaline until the next exit.

 

just a reminder to all... driving while sleepy or otherwise impaired is very dangerous.

hard to believe it's been 5 years today.

 

It is unbelievable how fast time passes...

How are you and your girlfriend?

 

thanks for asking. i'm fine but today is tough for her. a group of his friends got together to share memories and a couple of them called her which was great.

she struggles with the thought that people may have forgotten about him, which i told her is not true, but people's lives do move on with time and they have their own struggles too.

the reality is death becomes part of most living persons' lives at some point, so most are carrying some grief. my father jumped off the brooklyn bridge which was quite a shock when it happened. but that was a long time ago. this summer i will visit his grave in PA one last time.

 

One thing I know is pain.
We're here for you friend, I got your back.

One day at a time is all anyone can do.

 

I can’t even imagine. I was watching a motivational video one time and it talked about how long it takes people to start going on with their lives. Within an hour people will be talking about current events, within a few days your employer will start looking for your replacement, in a month your spouse will watch a comedy on TV and they will laugh, the point was that you should live your life for you, but it’s painful to see the evidence of their lives disappear. All you can do is keep them alive in your memory, and know like you said that nobody has forgotten him they just keep on living. It’s all they can do.

That’s terrible about your dad too, you’ve had some rough stuff…

Just know that we are all thinking of you

 

My first thought when I saw the post pop back up was "wow, that was quite a while ago", only to see that it'd been five years. I don't know any of you, but did not have to go back to the 1st post to remember all the details. If someone as distanced from the event as myself, Steve, and Margate remember, there's no way that those close to him have forgotten.

People do move on, because they have to. And memories do haze a bit with time. But you never forget, and the details that matter will be with his friends and loved ones forever.

So condolences once again, and sincere hopes that it gets just that tiny bit easier every year.

 

thanks very much guys.

and i bump the thread because what happened to matt can happen to anyone.

 

Keep on bumping it!

 

I'm glad you bumped the thread, as I joined CL after your initial post. I'm so sorry for your tragic loss!

Falling asleep while driving is all-to-common. Thanks for bringing it to the attention of the club!

Being 67-years-old, I won't drive long distances at night anymore, mostly due to poorer nighttime eyesight. This lessens my chance of falling asleep behind the wheel. Although, years ago, I started to fall asleep while driving solo in the afternoon, after a big lunch. It happened on a one-hour trip from San Jose to San Francisco. My high school driver's training kicked in. It taught us to roll down our windows and crank up the stereo, (if pulling over for a nap isn't an option). Doing so ended my "highway hypnosis," as identified in my high school training film.

 

I highly recommend carrying a stick of caffeine chewing gum in a car. I had to use it a few times and it takes just about a minute to kick in (as caffeine quickly gets absorbed through saliva).

 

Thats a really good idea...I'm going to order some for each car

 

Excellent idea if someone heart can handle it.

I don't drive tired anymore, wised up on that and learned the hard way- story for another day.
Rolling the window down, turning radio up, and drinking fountain drinks with caffene can only do so much.

For emergencies, I can see having a back up plan aka some caffene gum if it works.