{"id":1061,"date":"2016-11-21T18:47:12","date_gmt":"2016-11-21T18:47:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/madd.org\/tennessee\/?p=1061"},"modified":"2022-05-30T08:58:38","modified_gmt":"2022-05-30T08:58:38","slug":"melody-ann-flowers-missildine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madd.org\/tennessee\/melody-ann-flowers-missildine\/","title":{"rendered":"Why We&#8217;re Here:  Melody Ann Flowers Missildine"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"1061\" class=\"elementor elementor-1061\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-58891a85 elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default\" data-id=\"58891a85\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-1aba561b\" data-id=\"1aba561b\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-ce5dfb5 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"ce5dfb5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1062 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/madd.org\/tennessee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/66\/2022\/05\/Melody-Flowers-Missildine-221x300-1.jpg\" alt=\"Melody Flowers Missildine\" width=\"221\" height=\"300\" \/>Melody was a compassionate 22-year-old with a promising future.\u00a0 She was a junior at Union University in Jackson, TN, majoring in Elementary Education.\u00a0 But, she had already been offered a position with Memphis City Schools and Memphis City hospitals to serve as a coordinator setting curriculum for homebound and in-house students in hospitals as soon as she graduated.\u00a0 Her career choice was no surprise:\u00a0 She grew up with a heart of service and a love of reading.\u00a0 She was active in youth groups, had been a Girl Scout, had served as a Girls&#8217;s Auxillary leader at her church, and was a very active church member.\u00a0 Her favorite thing to do was read.\u00a0 So much so, that if she didn&#8217;t have something new to read, she would just re-read something she already had!<\/p><p>She was a devoted mom to her 3 year old son,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.madd.org\/tennessee\/why-were-here-drew-missildine\/\">Drew<\/a>.\u00a0 She loved spending time with her family, especially her Aunt Beth!\u00a0 She spent every Easter her entire life with her Aunt Beth!\u00a0 And one of her closest friends was her cousin, Angel.<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p><p><br \/>In fact, on November 23, 1996, she and her husband, Ray, and their son Drew, had just finished having dinner with family, Ray&#8217;s parents, and were on their way home when they encountered the unthinkable.\u00a0 Two drunk drivers were drag racing on an overpass at an estimated speed of 75-100 mph.\u00a0 Ray, who was driving, saw the oncoming vehicles, but was blocked by a guardrail with nowhere to go.\u00a0 All he could do was stop their vehicle and brace for impact. He turned to Melody and said, &#8220;We&#8217;re gonna be hit.&#8221;\u00a0 Those were the last words she would hear.\u00a0 One of the vehicles ended up on the top of the Missildine&#8217;s car.\u00a0 The drunk driver who hit them, ejected through his t-tops, was killed.\u00a0 The other drunk driver kept going, never stopping after witnessing the impact.<\/p><p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-1063 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.madd.org\/tennessee\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/56\/2017\/11\/Melody-and-Drew-Missildine-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Melody and Drew Missildine\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" \/>It was 10:05pm on a Saturday night when Melody&#8217;s parents, Stan and MaryAnn Flowers were called and told they needed to get to Lauderdale County Hospital, about 30 miles away, as soon as possible.\u00a0 When they arrived, they were given the news that their 3-year-old grandson had been killed in the crash.\u00a0 Hours passed before they learned that their daughter, Melody Ann, had also been killed.<\/p><p>Stan and MaryAnn say Melody will never be forgotten! They still stay in touch with her best friends, Amy, Amy, and Jennifer.\u00a0 But they say that everything changes after you lose a child.\u00a0 Life is completely different.\u00a0 This year marks the 20th anniversary of the crash that changed their family forever.\u00a0 &#8220;Your priorities change.\u00a0 We are not the same people today that we were 20 years ago,&#8221; says MaryAnn, &#8220;Time does not heal, it only helps you deal!!!&#8221;<\/p><p>Her parents say Melody was a crusader.\u00a0 She fought for the underdog and if she believed in something, she fought for it.\u00a0 Stan and MaryAnn say she will always be alive in their hearts.\u00a0 And that certainly seems to be true!\u00a0 For the last 20 years, they have fought to stop drunk driving, sharing their family&#8217;s story as MADD volunteers with offenders, in schools, and at community events, believing that if they can change even one person&#8217;s choice to drink and drive, they can save lives.\u00a0 They fight for the underdog, for the innocent, just like Melody would have, believing that they can and MUST do something to make a difference!\u00a0 Melody&#8217;s fighting spirit and compassion live on through her parents who have given her a voice.\u00a0 A voice that begs\u00a0#NoMoreVictimsTN!<\/p><p>\u00a0<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Melody was a compassionate 22-year-old with a promising future.\u00a0 She was a junior at Union University in Jackson, TN, majoring in Elementary Education.\u00a0 But, she had already been offered a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/madd.org\/tennessee\/melody-ann-flowers-missildine\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Why We&#8217;re Here:  Melody Ann Flowers Missildine<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1064,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,11],"tags":[4,7,8,10],"class_list":["post-1061","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-victim-stories","category-why-were-here","tag-nomorevictimstn","tag-impaired-driving","tag-tennessee-victims","tag-voices-of-victims","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - 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