Wow, Benchwarmer, My brother died at 37, in a car accident when his car went off the road, and wasn't found for over a week. There was construction and a piece of the guardrail was missing. He was visiting home from California, where he was living at the time, and wanted to visit some old friends for the 4th of July. We think he must have changed his mind and heading home in the dark, mistook the opening in the guardrail for an exit....He was my World! I was 23 and just married, and I didn't want to live anymore, without him in this world. July 4th is still so painful for me, as he never got to meet my twin boys, and there isn't a day, I don't think of him. My parents grief was overwhelming, he was their only son, and I remember my mother couldn't get over that he was lying out in a ditch for over a week.
This is certainly resurrecting some very painful wounds, July 4th is a terrible day for me, I dread the festivities, as I re-live it every year.