13 Years Ago Today...Amanda Marie Allison (1993 - 2011)

She loved the snow. If she were alive today, she'd be loving this. But 13 years ago today, her life was taken by a drunken, stoned 19-year-old at a party. Teens drinking and using illegal drugs ended the life of Amanda, only four days before she would have turned 18, only four months before she would have graduated from high school.

I knew she was partying. I knew she was doing things she shouldn't have been doing. I chalked them up to a teen phase that she would grow out of. She never go the chance to grow out of it.

Many teens believe they're immune from harm. Amanda did. She thought she could handle whatever came at her. It's a real phenomenon, a sense of invincibility, a sense of immortality even. If you're a teen, please read the story of Amanda and realize that you're not invincible, and certainly not immortal.

Alcohol and other mind-altering drugs may seem fun. Five minutes before Amanda was shot and killed, five minutes before, she texted a friend and said, "I'm having fun." Five minutes before a stupid decision by an idiot stoned on pot and drunk on alcohol became angry because she wasn't interested in his advances, didn't like being denied what he wanted, brought a sawed-off shotgun out of his bedroom, and fired the shot that would end my 17-year-old daughter's life.

The 12 gauge slug ripped through her aorta and she bled out on the dirty floor of a tiny shack in Wilburn, AR, where five minutes earlier she was "having fun."

Drugs and alcohol make you stupid. They interfere with the way God designed the brain to work. They make the brain malfunction, fail to operate at its capacity. The first thing to go when you start drinking or using other mind-altering drugs is your ability to sense danger. When you get stoned or drunk, dangerous situations that are easily recognizable when you are sober go unrecognized. Amanda's failure to recognize danger cost her life.

Another loss of brain function when you are under the influence is a failure to anticipate the consequences of your actions. When sober, you realize you'll end up in prison for shooting a 17-year-old girl. Stoned and drunk? Shooting someone who pissed you off might seem like a reasonable course of action because you don't recognize the likelihood you'll lose your freedom. 

Amanda's killer didn't get what he deserved, but he did get a 16 year prison sentence. He was 19-years-old when he took my daughter's life. He's 32 now, having spent 40% of his life behind bars. He will get out, but his stupidity while drunk and stoned cost him what should have been some of the best years of his life too. 

Today is the anniversary of Amanda's death. This coming Friday would have been her 30th birthday. Sandwiched halfway in between, this Wednesday, Janice and I will return to the Arkansas State Parole Board for what seems like the millionth time to plea for Amanda's killer to remain behind bars. We know the day of his release will eventually come. It may be this year, next year, or in three years, but he will get out. We've been to the Parole Board more times than I want to remember, and we'll return every time he comes up for parole. But eventually, the result won't be what we hope.

If you've read this far, I hope it's hitting you just how destructive one night of drinking or illegal drug use can be. Alcohol and drugs take lives and ruin lives, not only of those partying at the tragic event when it occurs, but so many lives of the people who loved those who were taken. 

Teen substance abuse may seem harmless. Luckily, most do live through it, get past it, and grow out of it. Sadly, too many don't. You may think you can control it, but you can't. Even if you don't partake, you can't control the stupidity of the drunken, stoned fools there with you. That slug that took Amanda's life would have killed her just as dead if she'd been sober. 

Teen substance abuse is anything but harmless. It takes lives and ruins lives. Lots of lives. Don't be like me and learn that the hard way. Listen to those of us who did. Talk to your teens now. Share my daughter's story. Save your children's lives!