Maria's Message and me.

I didn't know Maria. I don't know anyone in the Tiberi family. Like many of us, I feel like I kind of know Dom because of 10tv and he seems like a solid dude. But watching him on the news doesn't equate to knowing him or his family. So why does this make me so sad? Because I am guilty.
I am guilty of distracted driving for years. As a mother of two that watch everything that I do, as someone who has a family member with a Traumatic Brain Injury as a result of an automobile accident, as someone that has worked with individuals with disabilities (including at least 3 that I can recall with TBI from automobile accidents) for over 20 years, I am guilty of this very thing.
One would think someone such as I would know better than to be so careless. While not equal to losing someone that I love to an automobile accident, caring for those that are left permanently intellectually and physically disabled as a result of distracted driving is challenging; you never can get the idea out of your mind that this person being disabled is senseless.
Another reason Maria's Message struck a chord with me is because my son is now a driver; perhaps I related to Dom and his family from a parents perspective. I worried about my son driving distracted because of his inexperience with handling a car, I don't want him to hurt himself or anyone else. My worry based on his inexperience wasn't valid; everyone that I knew disabled in an accident was done so by a so called experienced driver.
 And then it hit me! Or I should say, my 6 year old hit me-with the truth. My phone indicated that I had an email while I was in traffic. I picked it up to read it. With all the innocence and honesty that only a 6 year old can have, she said "Mommy, you always tell Bubbie he can't look at his phone when he is driving. But you do it.You're not supposed to do that. Someone could get hurt. Why do you get to do it but Bubbie can't?"
She waited for an explanation from me as my mind raced trying to find an answer that absolved me of my actions but still prohibited her Bubbie and her future self from doing it; I had nothing and Maria's Message popped in my head. I admitted to her that what I was doing was wrong.
 I was suddenly overwhelmed with the truth that children do as we do, not as we say; that if my son is driving distracted it is more than likely because of years of watching me do it. I was struck by my hypocrisy and my arrogance. Shame on me. I decided in that moment that I would be a better example to her, I would take better care of her, myself, and my fellow drivers on the road. I would share Maria's Message with others.
Now my little girl is in charge of the phone when we are in the car. She is learning to be a safe driver by watching me. For my son, my family and friends, my employees, and everyone that I can touch I want to share Maria's Message with them. I want them to take the message to heart and look at themselves as my daughter forced me to look at myself.
Please don't drive distracted.