I recently asked Ally’s family and friends to describe Ally in one word because, simply put, I couldn’t do it. One word isn’t enough to tell you the type of person our girl was, or still is. So, in their words, Ally is radiant, genuine, spirited, fierce, beautiful, and vibrant. She is spicy, ornery, fearless, and bold. Ally is trustworthy, selfless, vivacious, marvelous, devoted, passionate, affirmative, caring, brave, and a safe-haven for all who know her. She’s goofy, exuberant, loving, forgiving, wild, outgoing, and always full of energy. Ally is a true Slytherin who is cunning, ambitious, resourceful, determined, driven and full of pride. She is fun, cheerful, thoughtful, kind, compassionate, wise beyond her age, strong, bright, stubborn, creative, relentlessly loyal, and positively one of a kind. You see, our Ally was and still is our irreplaceable sunshine. Ally-cat, as I like to call her, had an adventurous spirit. She was the spunkiest and sassiest person I’ve ever known. She was the type of little sister who would never leave her brother’s side and had to be in the thick of every event going on around her. She was the 4 year old blonde sitting by the fence at her brother’s t-ball games, eating popcorn and cheering his every success. She was the Second grade girl by the lake that would bait all the boys' hooks and pull off the fish they caught because they thought it was gross. She was the girl that never said no to a last minute dinner, concert or road trip across the country. She loved camping, hiking, cooking over bonfires, swimming in every single body of water she saw, horseback riding, ATV riding, boating of every kind, singing and dogs. Ally had a heart of gold. In first grade, Ally began advocating for the people less fortunate than her. Her first grade teacher frequently recounts the story of the day Ally inspired her class to make a paper mache wheelchair and enter a statewide contest to advocate for kindness and compassion for the severely profound students in her school. On the first day of March every year Ms Iasaello introduced the parachute. It was a part of her science unit on weather that showed how to chart the wind. The kids LOVED running and feeling it tug them in every direction, or wrap around them as they ran, tumbling them to the ground! After a few days of charting the wind- Ally raised her hand. When Mrs I asked her what she needed, Ally said, “Ms. I- I wish I could let Titus borrow my legs tomorrow.” Titus was one of the kindergarten students who visited their class for small group activities- who happened to need a wheelchair. Puzzled and intrigued, Ms I asked her to explain. Ally said, “I just wish he could run in the wind with the parachute and feel the wind wrap around his legs.” Choking back tears Mrs I pulled her to her and said “I sure do love you, Ally.” Ally’s passion for helping those in need never stopped. She struggled with her own learning disabilities, so she always made a point to reach out and take care of anyone with a need, whether it was in school, in her friend group, or a stranger on the streets. I was recently reminded of a day she made me go to Walmart to buy toiletries, socks, underwear and a coat for a homeless man standing on the side of Pennsylvania Avenue with a sign asking for help. Who was I to say no to those sweet innocent eyes begging me to help him? The countless stories from classmates I never met, who informed me that Ally was the only one in school who ever talked to them, has been staggering, but not surprising. You see, Ally’s heart was the biggest I have ever known. One of her dear friends said “I know for a lot of us, she was the one person we could go to when the skies were falling down around us and we didn’t know what to do. She was there to make you crack a smile and laugh through the hurt.” Ally spent her high school years involved in some of the most wonderful activities. She raised hogs and created beautiful works of art through welding for the Future Farmers of America. She played softball and managed her brother’s baseball team. She sang in the school choir. Ally made an impression on teachers and students alike with her work ethic and compassionate, loving spirit. In 2016, Ally’s Junior year, while my husband and I were out of town and her older brother was at school, our house caught fire. Ally was the only one home. After saving herself and three dogs- she suffered from PTSD. Another hurdle to overcome. Another situation to rise above- and rise she did. With her service dog Padfoot by her side and one day at a time, with one foot and one paw ahead of the other- she found the courage to overcome her fear. She chose, with the faithfulness of Padfoot at her side- to live life fearlessly rather than to fear death exclusively. She walked to a beat of a different drum and apologized to no one for it! She was sassy and sweet. She was prissy and cowboy. She was sympathetic and tough love. She was lost and she was found. She struggled and she soared… and just as winds were taking her to higher heights- she was killed. She looked death in the eye and said I will not let you take me. She looked at PTSD and said I will not let you own me. However, little did she know, she had to watch out for the drunk man in the 2004 Red Ford Expedition, flying down Highway 69 with no regard for anyone but himself, that awful night. I’ll never forget the worst day of my life. September 11th, 2021, around 4 am, I was sitting on my back porch scrolling through TikTok to unwind after a busy night at work. All of a sudden, through the darkness, I heard the blood curdling screams of my husband and son coming from the kitchen. I walked into the house to see 2 police officers standing by my sink, my son leaning against the counter for support with his wife’s hand on his back, and my husband on his knees, tears streaming down his cheeks as he repeatedly screamed “NO!” The kind officers, with sadness on their faces, told me there was a crash and Ally was killed. I’ve never called an officer a liar until that night. It took them telling me 3 times what had happened and my daughter-in-law saying “Danette, it’s Ally,” for me to finally realize what was going on. I can still hear those 3 words and the screams of my son and husband as if it is happening today. I died inside that night. My heart shattered beyond repair that night. I still cannot walk into my kitchen without seeing the 2 police officers delivering the devastating news in my mind‘s eye. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2 out of 3 people will be impacted by drunk driving in their lifetime. Each year, there are almost 3 million drunk driving crashes involving property damage, injury or death. Since the average American lives for almost 79 years, there are about 237 million drunk driving crashes in their lifetime. In 2021, the year my daughter became a statistic, 13,384 people were killed in drunk driving crashes. Fatalities increased 14%, compared to the 11,654 alcohol-related deaths in 2020 (when there also was a 14% increase). Drunk driving deaths in 2021 represented 31% of all traffic fatalities. Every day 1,063 people are injured, meaning every 81 seconds, someone’s loved one is injured in a drunk driving crash. In 2021, an estimated 388,136 people were injured. Every day, about 37 people in the United States die in drunk-driving crashes — that's one person every 39 minutes. These deaths were all preventable.