This month marks the fifty-fourth anniversary of a tragic event and I have never forgotten the victim. My mother's notation on an old class picture reminded me of the date.
I can't tell you what she liked to play or how many siblings she had. I don't know her favourite food or what she watched on television. My childhood memory of her isn't specific now, having been dimmed by time, but losing her suddenly out of our class made an impression on me. I remember her blond hair and how we played outside school and sang in the school choir together. She was in my class pictures in the early grades and I have never forgotten her sweet face.
Her name was Annie Merner and she was ten years old.
In January of 1964, Annie was walking along Topsail Road, Newfoundland where she lived and was killed by a hit and run driver. To my knowledge, the case was never solved.
Over the years, I have thought of her often. Annie missed so many wonderful events, opportunities and experiences. She missed out on her life!
Somewhere out there is a person who hit a ten year old child and left her to die on the side of the road. Maybe that person is long gone now too.
However I keep Annie in my heart.
46 comments:
I am so sorry for her family, who I am sure continues to miss her. I hope the person who did this suffered remorse for his or her crime. RIP Annie. :-(
You have left her in my mind, too. So many tragic events shape our childhood.
Always so very sad when a young life is cut short. There were 2 girls in my school who died while I was growing up -- one by natural causes, the other in a snowmobile accident. I will always remember them too.
Such a tragedy Marie.. a wonderful tribute to a young life taken too soon ✨
It os good of you to remember and post of her.
such a sad story, i don't know how people do this and then leave the person. it is beyond anything i can comprehend!! i love her name, annie, it has always been a favorite of mine!!!
Childhood happenings do stick with us. My best friend Susan moved away when I was 6, and I never had another one. I do wonder if I might have been less introverted if she hadn't moved away... I am glad you have kept the memory of Annie alive.
I'm sad for you and her family. I can't comprehend how anyone could leave someone dying in the street, a child or anyone. Bless you for remembering her.
That is a terrible thing to have happened and even worse that the guilty party was not caught. Hope he/she rots in hell with guilt. Diane
awww, so sorry for your community's loss! Her parents must've been devastated.
How tragic...so sad that it was never resolved.
The poor family too.
It is so nice to honor her with this tribute.
Sad, so sad. I do not know how someone could just keep on going and leave a person, a child, in the road to die alone. A heartless person.
It's nice of you to remember her.
That is a heartbreaking memory. Which undoubtedly haunts her family to this day. And yes, I hope the person who hit her is also haunted. As they should be.
And unfortunately whoever did it will never face justice.
I cannot imagine knowing you killed a child and going on as if nothing had happened and then living each and everyday with that burden. To lose a child is horrible. None of us deserve that.
Thank you so much for sharing her with us. Perhaps the person who hit her has died, if not we can all curse them. Yes, this is a truly terrible thing.
That's terrible, I hope the person who did that suffered from nightmares every night and lived a long life in a living hell. Of course he could never tell anyone about, and that would make it even worse. Good!
That's so sad that she died so young, and terrible that the person didn't even stop. It makes you wonder if she could have been saved had someone gotten her medical help. That had to be so hard for you and the rest of her friends and classmates. I think we all remember the first time we lose someone our own age or younger, and it makes a big impression. I'm sorry you were so young when it happened.
I cannot even imagine what it was like for her family, Jan.
Our lives can be changed forever by such childhood tragedies, Joanne.
I guess we keep them alive in a way, Debra.
I think of her often, PDP.
I carry her with me in a sense, AC.
I cannot imagine how someone could leave a poor child like that either, Debbie.
I am sorry your friend moved away, Debdor.
I wonder if her parents are still alive? Probably not but she had siblings who may be. I imagine they think of her on that date every year too.
I can’t imagine how one lives with the guilt of causing a hit and run death.
The community was devastated as was the family, SW.
I carry Annie with me somehow, PW.
It is unimaginable, Bill.
I wonder sometimes, EC. Was it someone without conscience?
Unfortunately not, William.
Ito bury a child is the greatest sorrow,Tabor.
By sharing Annie, she lives on in a way, Mage.
Hell on earth for the coward was too good, Keith.
We were only nine and ten and it made a big impression to lose our friend whatever way it happened, Danielle.
How tragic! Especially for her family to never find the monster who did it.
I had a childhood friend who died when an arena roof collapsed. He was only about 6.
Very, very sad.
How sad for the little girl and what a nightmare for her parents. I dreaded the possibility of something happening to our kids when they were young. All parents do. And for some, it becomes a terrible reality. And yes, it must have been hard for her schoolmates like you as well.
It makes the tragedy so much worse, Jenn.
Such a tragedy, FG.
It was, Catarina.
It affected my life forever, Jenny.
So sad for a little life to be wasted like that.
It was tragic for sure, Barbara.
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