Those of you who know me, know that I am a huge sports fan……HUGE! I love football, baseball, basketball and a ton of other sports..…pretty much anything. Motor sports are also popular with me…..NASCAR, Indy Car, drag racing.
Today at the final Indy Car race of the season there was a horrible crash……15 cars were flying through the air, some upside down and on fire. Dan Wheldon, this year’s Indy 500 winner, was killed. Lou and I saw him several years ago at the Indy 500 when he finished fourth.
Dan Wheldon had two small boys, a wife and many extended family members. Although it is sad and upsetting, I know first hand that people who participate in dangerous sports know the risks and accept it willingly.
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| Dan Wheldon and his family after his Indy 500 win in May 2011 |
My ex-husband was a skydiver and an airshow performer for many years doing wingwalking……a high risk activity by any standards. My son started flying at 16 years old and understood the consequences of aerobatics and other airshow flying. Both of them couldn’t imagine living their lives any other way.
As the spouse and mother of people who knew and accepted the inherent risks, I had no choice but to embrace their decisions. Even though I didn’t share their acceptance, I knew that in order for them to be them, they HAD to do this. The possibility of injury or death was real……very real. But they wouldn’t be who they were if they didn’t participate in these dangerous activities.
I took solace in the fact that were “the worst” to happen they would leave this earth doing what they loved more than anything in the world. In his early teens, when Darrin traveled with Allen to airshows I had people in place who would immediately get to Darrin and call me should a horrible accident occur.
I can only hope and pray that Dan Wheldon’s wife and family understood and accepted that this made Dan who he was as well. He died doing something that he truly loved.
Rest in peace, Dan Wheldon.
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