Early yesterday morning, Pam Roper was driving her oldest daughter, Laura Davis, out to college at BYU-Idaho. With them in the car were her other children: Daniel Davis, aged 14; Amena Davis, age 11; Cedric Davis, age 9; Seth Davis, age 7: and Joseph Davis, age 5. Somewhere near Sioux Falls, SD, for what reason no one knows, nor is it important, the car they were travelling in left the highway, passed along a drainage ditch and struck a bridge abutment. The car then went airborne, until it struck one of the piers supporting the bridge, and then it rolled over three times and came to rest on its wheels. Laura and Joseph escape without injury. Pam’s back was broken, and she is in the hospital. Amena, Cedric and Seth were all critically injured and remain in intensive care. Daniel died at the scene of the accident.
It’s hard to know what to do with your feelings when tragedies like this strike. I knew Daniel – not as well as some others, but I knew him. He was in my Sunday school class that I taught last year. I would see him every week in church, or at the temple, or participating in service projects with the other boys. He was shy, but he had a good sense of humor, and I think everyone who knew him liked him. I know that I did. And now Daniel isn’t with us anymore. He’s gone home to live with his blessed Lord, and for that I envy him. He’s well out of this earthly mess now. He no longer has to deal with all of the trials and tribulations, the pains and sorrows that are the common lot in this vale of tears. He dwells now with the saints in paradise, and I am happy for that.
But I am sad for all of those he left behind, including myself, for the world will be a duller place now that Daniel is no longer in it. Every good person who leaves this world leaves a hole that can never be filled. Daniel wasn’t rich or powerful or important in any of the ways that the world values. He didn’t live long enough to become any of those things. All the same, this young man left a mighty big hole behind him when he went, and our lives are emptier for his leaving. It is hard to not shed tears at this time, and a lump rises in my throat whenever I think about this tragedy. Still, I know that he is in a better place than we are, I know that he is happy, and I know that we will all see his shy, quirky grin again some day. It has been said that you should live your life in such a way that when you die, the world will cry and you will rejoice. Daniel Davis certainly managed to do that. I pray that we all may do the same.
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