Danielle called tonight.

Normally I love to hear from Danielle, but not so much tonight. At first we chatted about the same old thing but tonight we caught up on what happened in Milton while she was away in NYC. An 18-year old girl that attended Milton District High School, and had a locker a couple over from Danielle’s, was roller-blading along a side street around eight o’clock at night and was struck by a pickup truck. The truck hit her so hard it broke her upper spine, almost severing her head. The driver left the scene. When she didn’t show up at home her father went looking and found her lying in the ditch beside the road. The 34-year old hit and run driver of the truck was found at a motel the next day. Numerous charges were laid including possession of stolen goods and cocaine. Funeral arrangements were delayed to allow time for family members to fly over from England. On the day of the funeral Milton’s local newspaper issues a front-page article on how this guy got released on bail, the same day as the girl’s funeral. We barely finish discussing the absolute horror of this story when Danielle starts her next. During this same weekend a 20-year old boy that also went to MDHS, and dated a friend of Danielle’s, was at work building a new BMX track. He got off the heavy equipment that he was operating and somehow the machine jumped into gear and slowly ran him over, from his feet up to his head. The story goes that the pressure pushed up through his body and exploded this kids head. His younger brother, who also worked for this company, witnessed the whole thing happen. Danielle wasn’t finished yet, she asked if I had heard about Papa. Glen Barton previously had a lung removed for cancer and apparently it has spread into his other lung. Glen’s new wife called from PEI to let the family know that he doesn’t have much time left. It’s sad, but I don’t think any of his kids will even make an attempt to go see him before he passes.