I’m awake in the middle of the night. I’m betting that most of the 650 people I work with are also awake with me.

Today, one of our colleagues lost her three children and her father in a senseless and avoidable tragedy – their car was hit by a drunk driver.

In one instant, in one decision, everything changed. Absolutely everything. Nothing is the same. A new dividing line for life: before it happened and after it happened.

Because of one decision. One decision made by someone to get in a car and drive after drinking way too much.

Our decisions are things we own. They are ours. We can choose to be brave, we can choose to stay comfortable. We can choose to eat salad, we can choose to eat cookies. We can choose to drink and drive, we can choose to find another way home.

There’s no excuse for this. “I didn’t know it was a bad idea to drink and drive” is not a thing anymore.

When that decision was made, there’s no way he could’ve predicted this. He probably thought it was just a quick drive home, it was just easier this way. He had no idea how everything was going to change. I’m sure if he knew, he wouldn’t have. I believe that. But he made that decision, he “risked it”. Him.

And now everything is different. For him. For my coworker. There is a new heartbreaking reality that no one should have to live.

So now we make decisions. We make decisions to love on my coworker, to hold her up while she finds her stepping. We make decisions to never drive drunk, to never drive distracted. We make decisions to never let this happen again.