It has been seven years...

Around 4:30 pm, seven years ago today, my friend Shawn was killed in a car accident because a semi-truck driver ran a red light at the corner of 70th & Cornhusker in Lincoln. That red light changed the lives of Shawn's family, his best friend Mike, and fiancé Becky.

At the time, my dad was working at Nebraska Boiler which is located around 70th & Cornhusker. My dad heard the sirens, but I don't think he had never met Shawn.

Last I knew, a cross can still be seen at that intersection.

He had been driving his 1953 Ford pickup - a fix'er-uper (he called it). A truck he had just taken me for a spin in over new years.

I think about the driver of the semi-truck, wondering how much he thinks about Shawn or Shawn's family seven years later.

Shawn's memorial service will always stick in my mind. It wasn't held in the sanctuary, but in fellowship hall. The preacher didn't have a message, but many friends and family that came brought stories about Shawn. In the end, the message was that Shawn was well loved and respected, he always had some dirt on him, and he died too young. He had just turned 23.

Through the stories shared, we laughed and we cried and we have since have moved on...

Now, thoughts of him don't come to me as frequent, but on days like today, I stop to remember and I pray I'll never forget. This is the time I reread the lyrics to Steven Curtis Chapman's song, "With Hope".

A moment of silence for Shawn Spencer...
January 2, 1978 - January 22, 2001

Previous January 22nd blogs:
A moment of silence...
It was just five years ago...
Four years ago today...