Sad Day

About a year ago I wrote, the mayor of McAllen, and the chief of police complaining about the traffic on our street.  I was very concerned because we've had several close calls.  Mind you, there have been three separate accidents with two cars ending on top of our lawn and one striking the corner of our home.  We live four blocks from an elementary school and every morning and afternoon, people race through our street with no regard to the neighborhood pedestrian traffic.  I got a letter of response saying they would look into it.  A police officer was assigned to my complaint.  Unfortunately, the police officer had about much respect for the law as he did for our request.

He pulled over a speeder along side of our garage.  We overheard him telling the driver to slow down because the lady that lived in that house (pointing to our home and referring to me) is complaining about the speeding and let her go with a warning.   That was the extent of their investigation

On Monday, speeding was at an all time high on Main Street and I commented to my husband Ralph, that sadly, until someone got killed they weren't going to do anything about this situation.  Tuesday morning, my nephew by marriage, was killed and his riding buddy injured while they were riding their bikes on Trenton and Main...five blocks from our home.  It was early in the morning, they had their flashing red lights as they rode.  A ride they had been doing every morning.  Roy, 32,  was an avid cyclist and would raise money for several charities with his bike.  Then someone hit them from behind and kept on going.

When I first meet Roy, the first impression I got from this beautiful young man was his kindness, his beautiful smile, and that he loved my niece, Lorena, dearly.  He was so full of life and was so happy having started a new job a month prior...Roy was an architect.  Lorena and Roy were getting ready to celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary October 25th.

ROY JOSE CARLSON
August 3, 1979 - October 19, 2010

My mom thought the world of you Roy, so did the rest of the family.  We will miss you and your love for life.  May you be in God's loving embrace....

(Roy was a twin.  He is survived by his wife, Lorena, his mother, Kathy Carlson and two brothers, Jorge and Andrew.  He was working on his Masters, which he would have completed in December.)



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