Cruel Fate

I'm sitting here watching Cloverfield on Hulu. It's appropriate given the terrible news of the day.

My former colleague Emmett Tolbert was killed on Friday July 29, 2016 as the result of colliding with an automobile at the intersection of Broadriver and Beatty Roads in Columbia at about 10:25 p.m.

Word is that his wife was seriously injured in the accident and they have young children to suffer these consequences.

He was riding his beloved Harley Davidson motorcycle without a helmet — but the facts regarding the collision have not been publicized and all I can really do is offer my condolences to the family as they endure this tragedy which has befallen them.

Not being particularly adventurous anymore I have been pretty much one to traverse my 4 mile one way commute and park my vehicle in my yard specifically to avoid such calamity because there is no drivers education in South Carolina as there was when I was in school and I'm afraid it has become painfully obvious.

Add to this a public safety department primarily concerned with ticketing people for seat belts and the problem becomes a reality of poor driving that actually eclipses this petty seat belt law which should be repealed.

So here we have a 43 year old who was happy with his life, family and work who will be returned to the Earth from which he came.

I'm sorry for the pain his family endures regarding the tragedy and wish them all well in the future. I hope to hear more about his wife as time progresses but they were two in love and happy with that complementary nature of their existence. All the more tragic from my perspective.

Rest in peace.