the other day i received news that an old friend of mine was killed in a car accident late saturday night/sunday morning. tiara harn, just 22 years old, was driving back to gainesville from work in atlanta on 85 when someone hit her car and killed her instantly. i wasn't all that close to tiara, and i honestly hadn't spoken with her in over 4 years - but the news hit me pretty hard. i've known tiara since middle school at least. we were in the same social circle; we had a lot of mutual friends and a lot of classes together. it's just so surreal that she's gone, that someone my age is dead now.
i think a lot of my reaction to the news was the reality that one day i could get a phone call that something happened to one of my closest friends... and how devastating that day would be. and not to devalue the loss of tiara by any means, but if that had been one of my best friends in that car - i don't know what i would do with myself. it prompted me to call my mom and talk to my closest friends and tell them i love them. you can never tell someone that enough.
i later found out that the driver was suspected of DUI at the time of the accident and the police found cocaine in his car. the articles i've read online have all also noted that there were several phone calls reported on the vehicle prior to the accident - that the guy was speeding and driving recklessly. could the accident have been prevented? what if a cop had responded to the phone calls and tracked the vehicle down? would tiara still be alive today? who knows. the whole situation is so shitty.
after i heard the news, i googled tiara's name to see if anything would come up. i found a blog from a coworker of hers. the girl had written the next day after hearing about the accident - she wrote about how she and her friends at work didn't like tiara. they thought she was annoying, and they all used to make fun of her and teased her at work. now, after hearing the news, the guilt was setting in for how they had treated her even just that night before they all left work to go home. i'd link to it, but she has since removed her blog from the internet - i'm guessing after a friend and i commented on the blog. i simply asked if the girl knew any more details about what happened (at the time i only knew she was in a car accident), but my friend decided to leave a few choice words responding to the fact that the blogger was mean to tiara. the blog was gone the next day.
i hope the coworker learned a lesson on how you should treat other people. i know it's not realistic for everyone to get along with everyone else; we just aren't made that way. but you should be able to respect others and treat them humanely. it saddens me to think that tiara could have spent her last few hours on earth being picked on by some idiots at work.
Hi Amy, I just found out about what happened today. I was friends with Tiara for a short time while she was working at Daiquiri Island in Port Wentworth. I haven't seen her or talked to her in 3 or 4 years. I had a dream about her last nite and I was like "WTF" when I woke up so I got on myspace and went to check out her page and then found out what happened, this is a tragedy. R.I.P. Tiara.
ReplyDeleteAmy- I don't know if you remember me, but we went to school together since middle school. I just wanted to tell you that Tiara was my best friend and you seriously cannot imagine the pain that I and her family have been going through every.single.day since she died. It is over 6 months later and I am crying as I type this. She was one of the most wonderful people on the face of this earth. She was engaged and getting ready to start a little family. And that a**hole took it all away. Just know that it was a good idea to call your friends and family to tell you that you love them. I lost my best friend and I also had lost my mom about 7 months before that. They were the 2 most difficult moments I have endured in my life. And both died as a result of drunk driving.
ReplyDelete-Lois Mock Marcotte
My name is daniel and I work at ouback steakhouse in Cumming where Tiara used to work before she passed. Just to clarify on a couple things.....
ReplyDeleteTiara did not work in Atlanta, she had left a club with myself, and 3 other people who were all celebrating the birthday of one of the girls in our group... all of which, worked at outback and were all very close friends.
The blog that was posted by a different co-worker was a shock to all of us, as well as it was to you. Tiara was VERY well liked by almost ALL of her co-workers, and hung out with us almost every single day. It is amazing how ONE person's opinion of how they perceived Tiara can tarnish what any other people think.
In other words,
Tiara was VERY well liked, and thought and spoke highly of by almost everybody she surrounded herself with. Just becuase one person says otherwise, does not mean we all treated her the same.
And in response to her last few hours on earth...
I dont think she would have wanted to spend them any other way than how she did. I will never forget the smile she had on her face and her laugh that stood out among all the other faces and noises that night.
We all miss you Tiara. Can't wait to see you again.
Daniel