With Spring 2006 upon us, my son, Jacob, was excited for his senior year to come to an end. Graduation was only a couple of months away. One day, he said with a sense of pride and wonder, “Mom, can you believe our class is the first in several years to reach graduation without anyone dying?” I asked him to explain. He said that every other graduating class for the past several years had lost someone in the class at some point from kindergarten to graduation. The Class of ’06 was different. Not one student in that graduating class of Glynn Academy had died while attending school here in Glynn County. I found it to be a rather unusual thing to be excited about, but I also found it to be an interesting fact. At a meeting I attended a few days later, I asked the high school principal if it were true, and he confirmed it for me.
The more I thought about it, the more excited I became for Jacob and his classmates. Many of the teachers would tell you that the class of ’06 was a special group of kids. They had an immense amount of school spirit, and they were a friendly bunch of kids. The lines between cliques were rather fuzzy. While there were groups of kids who fit certain descriptions, these groups weren’t nearly so isolated or disrespectful toward each other. Pretty much everybody seemed to get along. They were a bright group of kids, but a bit too well known for being lazy. Even so, the teachers liked the spirit of this class. They were special. It was as if the class was charmed.
Sadly, only four months after graduation, three of the students from the Class of ’06 were gone. Two had died of cancer, and Jacob had died in his car accident. Only 19 months after graduation, 6 students had died. In addition to the first three, another died in a house fire, one died as a result of a gunshot wound (Jacob’s first friend when we moved to the island) and another was killed Christmas night 2007 by a drunk driver (she and Jacob had gone to school together since 3rd grade). This is an unusually high number of deaths for such a short period of time. The class had approximately 350 students. When I attended my 25-year class reunion in 2005, only 10 classmates had died in that 25 year period, and we had a class of over 500.
Last night, the Glynn Academy Class of ’06 said goodbye to yet another. Michael Warren was the 7th to lose his young life. Michael and Jacob had been friends since 6th grade. They were on the same academic team during their first year of middle school, and they were part of the same weekly Bible study small group. They remained together in that Bible study all the way to graduation. They weren’t best friends, but they were solid friends. As a result of Jacob’s death, Michael did some deep soul searching. His relationship with God grew deeper than ever. He never forgot about Jacob or our family. He would visit us on his breaks, connect with us on Facebook and keep us updated on his mission trips. He always looked for the cross placed at Jacob’s accident site, located about 30 minutes south of the college town where they lived.
Michael was on his way back to campus after being at home. He was driving along Hwy 15 in Greene County. He was just outside of Greensboro when the accident occurred. Oddly enough these are the exact same circumstances of Jacob’s accident. In fact, Michael would have passed the cross marking the site of Jacob’s accident only minutes before his own accident took place. I wonder if he was thinking of Jacob or even “talking” to him. A truck crossed the center line and hit Michael’s vehicle head-on. Both drivers were killed. The Warren family was contacted at approximately 10 pm, the same time we received the call about Jacob.
It’s hard to believe these two friends who both loved the Lord would die only miles apart but over three years apart. I know Jacob and Michael are at Home and together again, laughing and dancing, but I’d much rather they both be at home with their families and friends. We will always love you and miss you until we are together again Jacob and Michael!
Our hearts go out to his family, friends and community.
Thank you, Kathy. Through the compassion of people like you, this family’s burden of grief will be lighter.