Cook Last week’s tragic automobile accident that claimed the life of 18-year-old Alexandria “Alex” Conway will be remembered for a long time locally. I’m sure her classmates in the Class of 2010 will, in particular.

I remember during my high school days that we lost three classmates from the Class of 1978 during our four years in school, including one in our senior year.

For me, it was the first indication I had that perhaps I wasn’t “bulletproof,” that something could happen to me, too.

For some of our high school students, the loss will be more personal. Some will have been close friends to Alex, not just a classmate. Alex will cross their minds for a long time to come.

Thinking about this, this week, I remembered a column I wrote not long after I came to work at The Statesman. In it, I talked about the kids I was encountering at the high school ... about how impressed I was with the “yes sirs” and “no sirs” I was getting from them ... how the athletes worked and paid attention to their coaches ... and just their overall good behavior.

Now, I know that I’m just the guy that hangs around the bench, or the dugout, or the sidelines — and takes pictures. Generally, I have no more contact with the kids other than to ask one of them if I had identified the correct athlete that had just done something on the field of play.

But even though I never had much contact with Alex other than to say “good dig” or “nice game” after a volleyball match, she was always nice, nearly always had a smile on her face, and she did all the things her coaches asked of her. She was a generally good, allround American kid.

She will be missed. Help her parents through this time as much as you can.

•••

I can’t write about last week’s accident without mentioning something important.

Our volunteer fire department and our local law enforcement agencies.

If you haven’t seen the front page picture on last week’s issue of The Statesman, take a look. That accident scene was flooded with firefighters, law enforcement, and other emergency responders.

There was a call. They answered it.

Firefighters worked feverishly throughout the time it took to get Alex out of that car. Got her stabilized and into the air ambulance helicopter nearby.

Law enforcement kept traffic diverted safely around the scene, protecting the firefighters from harm.

I just want to remind folks about two things:

1.) Firefighters run towards fires while others run away from them to safety.

2.) Law enforcement officers wear guns so we don’t have to.

Loyd Cook has worked in the newspaper business for 17 years. He has earned multiple sportswriting and newswriting awards from the Texas Press Association and the Texas Associated Press Managing Editors organization.