We Lost a Great Kid and Heaven Gained an Angel

I got word on Monday that one of my co-worker's son passed away Saturday in a tragic accident at Bushkill Falls. I have been so emotional thinking about it, how the family must feel, how his friend must feel, etc and figured this was the best way to let out my feelings.

When I first got word (via email from my boss), the subject line was 'Incident Report for' person's full name. So when I saw that and who it was from, I figured something had happened at work, like a violation or something. Then when I opened it, my boss had wrote 'funeral information forthcoming' WHAT?! My heart sank, and my stomach turned. Then I scrolled down, tears in my eyes. He's a young guy, maybe 50 at most and he's so vibrant and full of life...what could have happened? Then when I read the whole report, it was the death of his son, not me. For a moment, I felt a little relief, then realized how devastated my co-worker must be after what happened. All that was said on there was that he was at Bushkill Falls in PA and fell into the falls, however, doing more investigating, I found out more.

Lincoln was a teenager. He was a great kid from what everyone says. I personally never met him, but if he's anything like his father, the world lost a great kid. His dad is so smart, vibrant he must have passed these traits to his son. Lincoln and his friend had gone hiking at Bushkills Falls. I read on a blog online the first hand scene of what happened. Apparently, he and his friend jumped over a guardrail that led to being 'off the trail'. That's what kids do right? They think they are invincible. I know I always felt that way at least. They were horsing around by the edge of the cliff I guess and he slipped and fell. The onlookers heard the yell, and saw his friend rush down to help him. Since they are in the woods, it wasn't easy to get help as there is no cell service or anything, and where the onlookers were, they couldn't get down to where he lay, but the friend did I guess. He was laying face down in the water and the people thought he might have lived....they waited for a miracle to see him move. The friend turned his body around face up and performed CPR and screamed for help. Sadly, Lincoln did not survive.

I'm not a parent yet, but I can't even begin to imagine how my coworker and family must feel. To bury your own child, isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Burying your parents? I know my coworker is a great parent, but he must be beside himself about how it all happened. Kids will be kids like I said earlier...they will do things that looking back on it, was stupid...we've all done it, right? Sped down the highway, cutting people off, doing drugs, etc?

I've been crying a lot about this all week...reading blogs about it, reading news articles about it. I guess what I'm trying to put out there is this. Parents, hug your kids a little tighter then usual, give them your love, give them kisses before bed and before they leave, or you leave for work in the morning. Can you imagine if you never saw your kid again and you didn't kiss them goodbye or hug them before they left for the day? And for kids....be careful out there. If there's a guardrail, don't go over it...it's there to protect you for a reason. Even if your friend eggs you on...just remember this tragey. Hopefully nobody will have to go through the pain of this tragedy.