There are simply no words that are fitting when MADD loses a member of its family. In December, we experienced such a loss.
As I had shared with many, my term officially ends Dec. 31st. Therefore, we had gone through the difficult but vital task of selecting a victim who can share his or her story, advocate for change and be a symbol of all drunk and drugged driving steals from us.
The person selected was Nina Walker, who lost her 22-year-old daughter Ginger to drunk driving.
But Sunday, December 3rd Nina died.
The loss of Nina Walker is a tragedy that will take time to overcome.
For years, Nina was committed to the mission of Mothers Against Drunk Driving®. Her work in the San Diego area and during her time on the National Board of Directors serves as a shining example of someone transforming her grief into action and healing. And I personally know how much she was looking forward to her time as National President as a platform to make an even greater difference in more people’s lives.
Truly, it’s a job she already excelled at even before her official first day.
A time of grief
My thoughts and prayers go out to her husband Gary and their grandson Shaye.
Nina and Gary raised Shaye from the time his mother, Ginger, Nina and Gary’s daughter, was killed by a drunk driver. Their story is one of tremendous courage and dedication, both to Shay and the mission of eliminating drunk driving.
If you, like myself, feel moved to share your thoughts or condolences, we have created a virtual remembrance page here.
A time to move the mission forward
While we will continue to grieve our loss, we must move forward, if only as a way to honor Nina’s wishes.
Therefore, because of the tragedy that took Nina’s life, I will be continuing in the role of National President in 2018. But I will do so with a heavy heart, because this was Nina’s year.
In a sense, it still will be, because her story will continue to be told by me and the mission of NO MORE VICTIMS® that she embraced with all of her heart will continue to be my focus and the focus of thousands and thousands of others.
May God bless the Walkers and MADD as we all move forward together.
