| My name is Debbie, and here' my story: | | Though I wish every day that I didn’t have this story to share, I am compelled to tell it to anyone who will listen in hopes that someday impaired driving will stop taking the lives of our innocent loved ones.
On October 26, 2003, my life was changed forever…the day a drunk driver murdered my daughter, Janet Marie Hardy.
We had been at a Halloween party the night before with friends. Janet’s friend, Samantha, had asked several girls if they wanted to go to the Baltimore farmers market in the morning with her and her Grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Gizzi. The teens wanted to go until they found out that it required being up before dawn. My Janet approached her friend, Samantha, and volunteered to go because we had been at the orchard earlier that week and Mr. Gizzi allowed her to pick a box of apples for free. She wanted to give something back for his generosity.
When she came to me for permission to go, I originally told her no, because we go to church on Sundays, but my Janet rationalized herself and I eventually gave in and gave her permission. I GAVE HER PERMISSION. That is something I have to live with the rest of my life. The girls were so excited about going, they wanted to leave the party early, so I drove the girls to Samantha’s house to spend the night. I remember my Janet standing on the stairs and I looked up at her and I said, “I love you Poohbear”, because that is what I called her, my Poohbear. She looked at me and said, “I love you Mommy”. I told her I loved her again, not wanting to leave and not really knowing why at the time, and she responded, “I love you Mommy.” I said it one more time, “I love you Poohbear.” She put her little hands on her hips and said “Mommy, Get out of here.” I turned at went home. Little did I know, I would never see her alive again.
That same Saturday night, another person was at a party. Relatives admit to seeing him drink. He was allowed to leave that party and go to a bar where his girlfriend works. After the bar closed, they left in separate wehicles and drove to get something to eat. Around 3:30 am on Sunday morning, they decided to drive home, again in separate vehicles. He didn’t have to be driving either, because his girlfriend was there with him. She was just one of many people who could have stopped him from driving. But she let him drive and at 3:54 am on October 26th, 2003, he crossed the centerline and he murdered Mrs. Gizzi and my daughter – my innocent Janet. He also ended his own life.
Janet was a friend to everyone that met her. She loved me and her sister, Jessica. She loved her dad, a Maryland State Trooper. Janet loved her cat, Rascal. She was an Honor Roll student with straight A''s and wanted to go to University of Maryland someday. She was a Cadette Girl Scout, belonged to the Jr. Nat''l Honor Society and participated in the Challenge Program. She excelled at everything she did. She also loved soccer, and played her final game with her undefeated team, the Perryville Panthers, only three days before the crash. She was my baby, only 13 years old, and SHE DID NOT HAVE TO DIE!
Life without Janet is filled with tears. I miss her everyday and I want her to come home. The reality of my world is that I am paying a life sentance for someone else''s crime. Never again will wake in the morning to see my Poohbear smile. Drunk driving has destroyed my life and the lives of my family and Janet''s friends. I love Janet. I love her more everyday because love never dies and it is all I have left to hold on to.
Debbie Hardy, Janet''s Mommy
Impaired driving is preventable. Our police officers can only do so much towards getting impaired drivers off the roads, but what then? You can give a person a loaded gun and they wave it around a crowded room and it accidentally goes off, it’s called murder. But if you give a loaded person a car, and they drive it around on our streets and they kill someone, what do you call that?
I’d like to thank Governor Ehrlich for making the awareness of impaired driving a priority in Maryland. Through his leadership, and everyone working together to do their part, hopefully other families will not have suffer as most of us here have.
Let us take this day to remember our loved ones who were so senselessly taken from our lives. We live with a sorrow that will never go away, with unanswered questions and unfinished dreams.
I know my Janet is watching over me. She is my inspiration because she never gave up on something she believed in.
My Janet had written me a poem one year for Mother’s Day and it reads,
Mommy, oh Mommy did you know,
I need you more that winter needs snow!
I place you in my special place of my heart,
I know that we will never part!
I love you more than summer loves sun.
I love you pretty much, more than a ton!
You free me from pain,
You make it sunny and stop the rain!
You are in my heart forever,
So we will never part, NEVER!
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