My family suffered a terrible loss on Sunday night. My 25-year-old nephew died in an accident while ATVing. There was a sharp turn in the road at the end of a downhill grade, and he failed to negotiate the turn; he was ejected from the ATV and struck a tree. The official cause of death was blunt force trauma.

To describe everyone in the family as being terribly shaken by this loss is the understatement of the century. No one, no one, no one could have seen this coming. Luke was a careful, conscientious, and goal-oriented young man. His stepmom joked that they used to tease him for driving like an old lady. But even careful people can make a mistake. I suspect he wasn't familiar with that stretch of road, as he and his fiancee were vacationing in her grandmother's cabin in the mountains. If he'd been aware that the sharp curve was coming up, I'm sure he wouldn't have been going too fast. We're lucky that a neighbor happened to see him moving way too quickly on that road, and called state troopers. If he hadn't done that, it would have taken far longer to determine where he was when he didn't come back from ATVing.

So please send prayers and good thoughts my family's way. This has caused a great deal of heartbreak for everyone.