Dori Slosberg & Friends

Yesterday I attended the 10th anniversity of the accident that took the life of Dori Slosberg & four of her friends. 10 years ago, on February 23rd 1996, five teens lost their lives in a horrendous car crash on Palmetto Park Road. The 19yr old driver lost control at 90mph; crossed the median; crashed into an oncoming vehicle and changed the lives of these families forever!


Among the victims was Florida State Rep. Irving Slosberg's daughter, Dori (14 yrs old); her friends Margaux (13 yrs old), Carolina (14 yrs old), Crystal (15 yrs old) & Ryan (15 yrs old). Such a senseless tragedy for such a young group of kids...

Nine kids snuck out of a movie theater, piled into a compact car and sped down the road carelessly enjoying their youth. The results of a carefree night of fun ended in a tragedy. Five teens killed; 1 teen left a quadriplegic; 1 teen and 3 women suffered severe injuries; the driver, a 19 yr old teenage, charged with the accident, forgotten about in jail.

Five families lost a child and many more left to deal with this tragedy.

The possibility of...
friendship and respect endures for all eternity thru this memorial.

Thanks for the Inspiration!!

I spoke with Rep. Irving Slosberg! I was truly inspired by his words but most importantly by his actions! I did research to find out about his political stand and found out that what he stands for is safety on the roadways. I found out that he lost his daughter 10 years ago (along with four other teens) to a tragic accident. Since then he has been an advocate to prevent the loss caused by drunk/careless accidents.

Now I really KNOW that there are no such things as coincidences! I found out in my reseach, that I got in touch with him just days before the 10th anniversity (Feb 23,1996) of the death of his teenage daughter, Dori.

This sent goose bumps up my spine! I was so honored by his actions and asked him if I could attend the memorial services and document it on this blog & the adjoing web site.

So you will see that coming up in the next few days.

An Exciting Surprise

Out of the many emails I sent out, I got 99.99% in Nos! Thru all those Nos, I read many reasons why I should not do this project; why I should accept & conform to the status quo; how I should learn to live with it; how sorry they are for my loss; how I should not worry about caring for other; how I should not stir things up & should not take up a cause that is "so controversial."

Many, many valid reasons to accept a life that is fine & reasonable. Many, far to many reasons to let life just go by & accept things as they are. Way too many, far too many words that just say that it is too hard to care - so just give it up.

All this darkness & stormy clouds from above, but I cannot do that.

But thru the downpour of words, shone one, singular ray of hope. A single ear that actually heard my plea & felt my story. Only one email returned to my inbox with five lonely words.

I will help, call me!

that's all that needed to be said. This email came from Florida House of Representative member, Irving Slosberg.

Thank you for the simplicity & firm stand of your respond.

More of the Same...

So you know the story! The state, FDOT, Turnpike Authority, even my family are not 100% excited about the project.

So I am pissed! I was so mad that I felt I needed to go for broke!!!! What do I have to loose, right. All they can say is no - & I have heard them all already, so what is one more! Everybody who is there for the benefit of the public, in my opinion, is serving the benefit of the bureocracy.

So what would be the most out there, most unreasonable, most unlike me thing to do?

So I sent tons of emails telling my story & asking for what I want to see. Asking to change the bureocracy, asking to change the mindset of mankind. Asking for the unreasonable! I sent an email to the representatives of my district, both Republican & democratic. I sent emails to the director of MADD (I know, try somewhere else), I sent an email to the director of FDOT, FHSMV, to everyone I could think of.

Some made believe that my request never happened & that I would forget about it. Hello out there! I have not forgotten! Im still waiting for the reply to my email.

Other replies were just boldly stating NO. They said it in so many words trying to get me to understand, but just spilling words to justify their stand. I read thousands of words, hundreds of sentences & many paragraphs that all just say no. I can't accept that.

MADD about you

Last night I attended a M.A.D.D. Victim's Awareness Panel. This was a real eye opening experience - two fold. Fortunately Lynnsey Eakins (M.A.D.D. WPB Chapter) allowed me to enter as a volunteer. This meeting is usually reserved, and mandated by the court system, for first-time DUI offenders to listen to victims, lawyer (for both sides) all intended in persuading the offenders from driving under the influence.

I say that it was eye opening - two fold - because listening to the victims perspective is really sad & I can be compassionate to them. Listening to CD tell us how a drunk driver drove head-on into her daughter's car, was very heart - wrenching. Her only child was no longer alive.

But standing outside waiting for M.A.D.D. to open the doors, I got a different perspective. One of the offenders was chatting with several others. He was bragging that he's been here before (mind you, it's only for first time offenders) & telling everybody in his group, what to expect. "They will put an old man in a wheelchair in front of the group. He will tell us how a drunk driver took his legs & his wife. But all I know is that I wasn't the one who did it - otherwise I don't give a sh*t!" - Everybody laughs a nervous laugh.

Now this is why I am here - yes I am mad!! I want to not only assist the family heal, but to create awareness so that this does not happen again. This story made me mad & it made me realize that there are some real ignorant jerks out there, that I may never reach - until it happens to them.

I wish them luck & pray that they are not the next ones to cause a crash because of their choice to remain ignorant.

More Images

DANNYEL PASSETO
1972-2002
BOCA RATON.

I learned that he left behind a family that loves him.

He liked Arizona Ice Tea (as do I) & he is loved by his family.

Live flowers indicate that this memorial is being maintained by loved ones.

BOCA RATON
Somebody takes care of this marker with live flowers.

The day I took this picture, the lawn maintenance crew was trimming the lawn and were manually & respectfully cutting back some overgrown weeds off the marker.

Anonymous Memorial

ANONYMOUS
A stainless steel cross finely crafted and lovingly devoted. Made so that it will never wear away, never fade away...
Never deminish, like the public interest in the memories of the crash.

THE EDGE
The edge between light and shadow is lovingly marked so that no one can ever forget.

The message of love, loss & remembrance is boldly stated for everyone to know that someone crossed over right here.

SELP Workday #3

This is the last workday for the SELP. My project is advancing and I feel like I have actually accomplished something. Even though I got many NOs & nobody seems to be able to do anything to change the status quo, I feel like I have progressed.

If not ME then WHO will!!!

I have been able to define the actual parameters for the project; the web site is under way & have submitted it to search engines; I am actually over the sadness that I was bringing to this project.

I even changed my possibilities. They used to be 'Self-Expression & Listening.' Well I was able to accomplish that with the help of my coach. Now I have new possibilities that will endure 'Love & Compassion.' I chose them because they are never ending possibilities. Just when you though you have given enough, there always is more room for them to be shared & for them to be shared with you.

Today is going to be a great day!

MADD that they can't do much

Another day of nos. No, no, no, no and guess what - no. You want what? - NO. What part of no did you not understand. Na na na na na. It's becoming comical how predictible it can become. I contacted the local MADD chapter. They took my info & listened to what I had to say, very sincerely I must add. But said that they cannot sponsor any programs; they cannot endorse anybody & don't expect any finacial support. Don't even think of including MADD's name in anything. MADD does not do any of that.

Oh and the assistance with getting the FDOT to act - well this must be decided by national - but that may take "a while". AHHHH more nos, even the people who's mission statement says that they are all about helping the victim.

I must realize that MADD has its focus (even if I think its limited) & they have defined their structure of ways that they can help. I mean that they focus on alcohol & drug related fatailities (in FL - 15% of all fatalities) and that is what they do. So they are not the ones to help me. I must go the grassroot route.

But, I must admit that I got MAD at that. The feeling I got though, is that - how can an outsider tell MADD what to do. They know what the REAL problem is. Alcohol is the REAL problem & they are going to stick to the national numbers (which shows that fatalities are down) instead of paying attention to the local numbers. But what I am trying to impact is the real major cause of fatalities - Careless & distracted drivers (Careless - 25%, Failure to yield - 13%, Excessive speed - 13%). Am I wrong MADD? These three only combine to 51%. That's well over 3 times what MADD is focusing on. Something needs to be done about these fatalities! Oh well - time to move on.

FDOT & FHSMV - so many acronyms!

I just got an email from Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. They were no help. All they did was point me back to FDOT. FHSMV emailed back with a 'nothing we can do' message. I also spoke with FDOT & they are also "nothing we can do" advocates.

Don't get me wrong! All these people are very nice, pleasant and think what I am trying to do is "wonderful" & yes, they can see how it would help. But - "nothing we can do, but good luck!"

This morning I contacted the Turnpike Authority. The public information office was nice & she directed me to different offices. Everyone I contacted in those dept. were nice, but could not offer any help. Finally I spoke with a manager & he was dead set against any kind of interaction. No public space exhibit, no possibility of a public memorial garden. I even asked if I can have a flyer with road safety tips (to go hand in hand with the Road Worker Safety Awareness Week) handed out to the general public stopping at the toll plaza to get tickets. He responded - get this - "the SunPass program is working so well that hardly no one stops for tickets anymore." WHAT! A SunPass sales BS pitch?!?! I must be seeing mirages on the road. From my experience I see more of a 40/60 mix - but I'm no expert. A layman cannot access what a professional knows. So I asked him what he thought was the actual percentage. He snickered "if its 10% - it's too much." I took this chance & said "well 10% is still something. How can I reach them?"

That seems to have pissed him off. He replied "there is nothing we can pass out - it would be too dangerous." He was starting to get rude with me & I could feel the tension in his voice. So now I got pissed/ fustrated/ (you fill in the blank) & I countered with "When they were promoting the SunPass, that's exactly what they did. Did that cause any complications?" I have to admit, I did kind of try to get his last nerve. :-) he replied "That's different!, I must go"

Anyway, all I've been hearing is no, no, no. To the point where it did not matter anymore. Boy! Do bureaucrats really do their jobs with their hands tied behind their back. Or is the system so out of touch - that they can't make a decision without an act of congress?

FDOT to the Rescue... Guess Not!

I know what they always say about bureaucracy, but I had to try anyway. I've been wanting to create two things. First, I want to create a Memorial Garden at the greenspace of the rest stop plaza where the public will be able to see it & where the family can go & contemplate. Second I wanted to create awareness to the rise in roadside casualties by uniting families w/artist who will create a painting/sculpture/mural of the narrative. The paintings created will be displayed in the turnpike rest area plaza. The whole idea is to let the public know the loss but most importantly to assist the family in releasing the agravation, anger, sadness and sorrow of what happened to them. Hopefully with this release, they can heal their souls.

I contacted DP, the administrator of the FDOT Roadside Memorial Marker program. He was helpful and sent me the fabrication & installation guidelines for the program. But beyond that, he won't answer my emails anymore. SBJ was also another contact. She is the public contact for the program. I asked her for info that the family can use as a guideline for what the program represents. Still waiting. Asked her about having an online application to make the process easier. But there seems to be no online application process & none planned.

I guess I need to find other avenues.