If only we could turn back the clock …go back to Friday. Friday was a good day …it rained like crazy, the burn ban was lifted, parents were busy making the final plans for the Homecoming dance …

Then Saturday morning the world changed for so many.

I started receiving emails and messages that something bad had happened on the A road. By the afternoon I had received three updates from the Clallam County Sheriff’s office …each time with a bit more information. I posted the following on the Forks Forum Facebook page :

Accident

I know many people want to know details regarding the accident on the A-road overnight. In consideration … I will not be posting anything at this time.

My heart goes out to all families and friends who have been touched by this tragedy. Prayers to them and the entire community.

I decided that many that may not have been contacted yet or were just starting to deal with the tragedy didn’t need to see even more about it.

I didn’t know all the young people involved in the A Road accident but for most of them I knew their parents, grandparents and for one I had known their great-grandparents.

I knew Tyler and Ariel best from their time as Forks Spartans and having their photos on the Forks Forum sports page. I also had followed Tyler’s journey this summer through his grandmother’s postings as he went to Alaska to work on a fishing boat. His grandmother Carolyn shared the following about his summer of fishing, “He worked hard and came home happier than I’ve ever seen him.”

She also lamented about people continuing to supply underage kids with alcohol.

I know Jaden was a true Forks kid …loved the outdoors and was going places. Tyler’s grandmother also shared, “We loved Jaden too.”

I have also had Gyovanna’s photo in the paper several times. She had held school supply drives at Forks Outfitters to help her classmates who couldn’t afford them.

I sadly did not know Shaiyanne.

On Saturday afternoon I chatted with the dad of two FHS teenage daughters he said, “I had to hug my daughters really tight today after work, I told them it’s never a bad time to call for a ride.”

We also talked about our shared experience as being a teenager growing up in Forks. He said, ” Oh you don’t know how many keggers I’ve been to up there on the A road. I’m blessed to be alive.”

No matter if you graduated in 1951, 1961, 1971 … 1991 or 2021. Many of us have been on the A road or elsewhere making decisions that could have resulted in disaster. We made it back home …our 50 and 60-year-old selves cringe at what may have been, and sadly what now has happened again.

On Monday our first responders continued to be on the run and had to deal with another vehicle fatality. Please continue to keep them, the families, friends, and the survivors in your prayers.

Christi Baron

Editor