I'm not the most frequent poster here, but i do check in basically daily to see what's up, and it is because i feel like we are a family here that i am writing this...maybe it's purely just therapeutic for me, I don't know.....
My Wife and I, and our daughter lost our beautiful 18 year old son Tyler in a horrific car accident on Sunday. It is only the love and support of our family and friends that is allowing us to cope at all right now. I would like to take this opportunity to tell you all that I consider you family too and to ask you to do this TODAY...
For those of you that have children....give them a giant hug tonight and tell them that you love them..
For those of you that don't...hug your spouse, your girl/boyfreind and tell them that you love them..
Call your parents and tell them you love them...
Whoever you have and whatever it takes....do it....life is too precious and too fragile not to....
-hokietopher
Comments
huge thoughts and prayers for you and your family.
Best wishes. We hate to lose any Hokies. Period.
Will do. My thoughts are prayers and with you and your family.
So sorry for your loss. I'll keep you and your family in my thoughts and prayers, and will definitely take your advice.
So sorry to hear this. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
Life is so precious.
My condolences to you and your family. We are all part of an amazing set of communities, both here on the site and with our university. We are and will always be here for you and your family, and we will keep you in our prayers.
Our prayers and thoughts are with you at this awful time in your life. I am so sorry.
So, so sorry. As a father of two, I will certainly go home and hug them tonight. Your post puts things in perspective.
Thoughts and prayers to you and your family.
so sorry to hear :(
I love Hokies and I am so glad that you have such a wonderful community to reach out to. We'll always be here for you
Terribly sorry for your loss. Your family has my thoughts and prayers in your time of need.
:(
You and your family are in my prayers, hokietopher.
That is tragic news. I am so sorry for your loss, words do not even come close.
A great thing about our Hokie Community is that you know we are always here for you and will support fellow Hokies on their best or worst days. Even if we don't know you directly, you are one of us. My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.
There are certainly no words that can comfort you or your family from your devastating loss.
What I can do is let you know that you and your family will be supported and prayed for by your friends, family and those posters above and below me. I just hope that you allow this to lift you and your family up during this time and it gives you the strength to face each difficult day.
I can tell you that the loss will get easier with time-it will not reduce the import or the memories of your son, but time will reduce the pain that you and yours are experiencing.
Stay strong, lean on others and let the TKP community know what is happening as you go through this terrible time.
May God heal your heart, and the hearts of your family.
I'm incredibly sorry for your loss. You, your wife and your daughter are certainly in my prayers.
I'm truly sorry for your loss and would like to offer my prayers to your family during this time. Trust in the Lord that He will lessen the sadness that has come to your family.
"I don't know most of you guys, but we're all Hokies, which means we're family. To all of you who are OK, I'm happy for that. For those of you who are in pain or have lost someone close to you, I'm sure you can call on anyone of us and have help any time you need."
-Quote from George W. Bush's speech on April 17, 2007
I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot even imagine the pain you must be going thru, I can only offer you my heartfelt condolences and prayers for you and your family.
From one TKPer to another, you have my deepest sympathies and are certainly in my prayers, hokietopher.
And although it's incredibly difficult, be strong for your family. God knows they need you now more than ever.
I will be sure to squeeze my girls and my wife extra tight tonight and ask them to say a prayer for you and your family tonight. It is said that there is no greater love then a parent has for their children. The quote below is one I took to heart the day that my first daughter was born.
They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it. Death cannot kill what never dies. ~ Williams Penn
I am so sorry for your loss. I cannot imagine what you're going through, but I will offer thoughts, prayers, and whatever good vibes that I can. We have never met, but I know you because you are a Hokie. That makes us friends, and forges a bond among all of us; I do hope you can draw strength from that.
I wish you and your family all the strength and blessings you need to make it through. And you will make it through.
I am terribly sorry for your loss and my thoughts and prayers are with you and your family. The beauty of Hokie Nation is that we are always there for each other and we are definitely there with you and your family right now and forever.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss, and I'm sure that everyone on here and in our community, myself included, will do anything to make this easier. Hang in there, thoughts and prayers are with you
I'm very sorry for your loss. My family and I will be praying for you and yours. God Bless.
My condolences for your loss. As a parent I cannot even fathom how devastated you and your family must be. You are in my thoughts and prayers. God bless.
I am so sorry for your loss. My thoughts are with you and your family.
Hokies fly high
Hokies NEVER die
I am very sorry to hear of your loss. My prayers will be with you and your family.
This is a cold dose of reality for all of us. I am so sorry for your loss.
OMG, I can't imagine the pain you and your family are in right now. Thoughts and prayers.
I'm sorry for your loss. Praying for your family at this time!
Prayers for your family, hokietopher
I'm very sorry for your loss.
I am sorry for you loss and know that you have support all around you!! May all the prayers be with you and your family.
Losing one is losing one too many.
Y'all will be in my thoughts.
Most of us will never experience the loss of a child- viewed as the most devastating by experts. Please accept my most heartfelt condolences for yourself and family. Nikki Giovanni's Convocation address most eloquently expresses our collective feelings for a fellow Hokie's tragedy.
http://www.remembrance.vt.edu/2007/archive/giovanni_transcript.html
I'm very very sorry for your loss. The Hokie community is always here for you!
I'm very sorry from your loss. I hope you can find solace in the support and love of the TKP community and all of Hokie Nation.
So sorry. Your family will be in my thoughts and prayers.
My condolences to you and your family. I'll be sure to keep them in my thoughts.
sorry for your loss
Heart breaking... I'm very sorry for your loss.
I am truly sorry for your loss.
Finding peace in Christ, through tragedy is difficult beyond words. But he promises us comfort and shelter during these chaotic and confusing times. I recently lost my father; the pain of seeing a loved one go is sometimes too tough to stomach...and as a father of 3, to lose a child would be gut-wrenching. I have found a peace that surpasses all understanding in Christ Jesus, and I pray the same for your family. One passage that stands out to me:
Psalm 57:1
God bless, and go Hokies.
I can't imagine the pain and loss you must be feeling. Having two sons near that age, I know the small twinge of fear that every parent feels when their son or daughter hops in a car, whether driving or not. We get used to it, knowing that the odds are they will return without incident, but in the back of our minds, we know there but for the grace of God go I. You have realized every parent's worst fear. I sincerely wish you and your family peace and comfort in this most difficult time, and I know that you will cherish the memories of the eighteen wonderful years that God gave you with your son. God bless you and your family.
I am so sorry for you loss. You and your family are in my prayers tonight.
Sincere thoughts and prayers for your loss, and for your journey as you travel on through life. The pain will never cease completely, but I do pray that you bear it as well as possible.
Sorry for your loss. My wife and I lost our first born son when he was 4 months old to SIDS so I know what you're going through. Nothing anybody can say or do will ease the pain...ever. We never "get over" it, we just somehow learn to live with it.
hokietopher (if that is your real name......)
Just checking in.......hoping you and the family are hanging in there.
My TKP Family....10 years has gone by so fast, and you all were there for me then as I know you are now. I see so much anger and arguing between our TKP family these days and it makes me sad sometimes. The outcome of our sports teams should not define our lives. We should all strive to be better to each other. On top of being a horrible day that my family and I remember our son Tyler on the 10th anniversary of his passing, I found out this morning that my best friend RC Banjanin, a VT alum, suffered a terrible brain injury in a fall last night and is in critical condition. I'm not sure if he's going to survive.
I tell you all this not for sympathy, but to serve as a reminder that we can be better; that we can rise above petty arguments and be kind to one another. Tomorrow may be to late to make amends.
If I've never said it before, let me make it clear:
I love you all and am fortunate to have all of you in my life.
I will include in him tonight's prayers.
Thank you my friend.
Folks‐ It is with great sorrow that I tell you we lost a Hokie today. Rest in peace my best friend RC.
I'm sorry for your loss, topher.
Hey Topher, I've been drinking a little bit so this probably won't come out as eloquent as I would like. I started drinking today with a group of safe streets advocates. I've mostly been focused on housing policy, but housing and transportation are intertwined. Your son's death was no accident. These are car crashes and they are preventable. There's a book called "There Are No Accidents" by Jessie Singer. It describes how the high levels of traffic violence in our communities is a conscious decisions made by our local, state, and federal governments.
Two high school teammates of mine were killed in car crashes. One of them was killed on his bicycle in Blacksburg. I have spent a significant portion of my life fighting for safe streets, whether that was in Blacksburg, Madison, NOVA, or now Chicago. I would encourage you to get involved in this fight. Traffic violence kills about as many people as gun violence in the US, and before the pandemic was the leading cause of death among children. But unlike gun violence nobody talks about it or seems to recognize that it's a preventable issue. Nobody deserves to lose a child, parent, friend, sibling, teammate, etc to traffic violence. We should be free to move around our communities without fearing for our lives. If you want to get involved in safe streets advocacy, please contact me I have a lot of resources I can share.
HI Ben....thank you for your kind thoughts. It's encouraging to know that there are people out there trying to facilitate change in the world around them.
I would like to let you know that my son's death was just purely an accident. There was no 'traffic violence' or other conspiracy that led to his accident. He was alone in his truck and driving too fast, as young people often do, and went off the road into the woods and his truck slammed into a tree at 60 MPH and caught on fire. Thankfully no one else was involved whatsoever.
All accidents are of course preventable, and I applaud your efforts to combat 'traffic violence', but my son's death had nothing to do with 'conscious decisions made by our local, state, and federal governments.'
With my best regards,
-Chris (topher)
Love you too, Topher. We'll hold you through it
Thank you my friend.
And we are fortunate to have you in ours and a part of the Hokie family.
Thank you Brent - looking forward to seeing you in July-
I saw this when it posted, but I was a child, and fresh out of school. Since then, I've become a dad myself, and I truly can't imagine the hurt that you and your family went through. Perspective is always important. Thanks for the reminder. Much love to you and yours.
Thank you
Really sorry to hear and I always appreciate your perspective on life.
Thanks Joe.
Thinking of you and your fam Chris
Thanks Scott. I gotta reach out to you and Nerf about golf in Delaware this July.
Looking forward to it!
I don't recall this original post; not sure if i was lurking at that time but I didn't become a member of TKP until a couple years later.
As a father of an 18 year old (and twin 12 year olds) I offer my sincere condolences. I worry every time that mine sets behind the wheel of his car; not just because of his youth and inexperience but also of the thousands of others around him.
Yup. My daughter is 20, and my gut drops every time she drives away.
My sincere condolences Chris. You and your family are in my thoughts