DRUGS PUT THESE HEARTS IN CHAINS

Just because Valentine's Day is right around the corner, it doesn't mean
that everyone is strolling hand in hand. Granted, we've got to look some if
we want to find a thought more charming, but thought, sometimes, can break
our hearts in two. Lives and loves and lost horizons lean heavily upon
life's choices.

We find ourselves at a fork in the road more often than we wish. And if we
thought more clearly about those choices made, there's little doubt among
us that we'd steer a wiser course.

It might seem my train of thought is mired in sentimental seepage, but
really I'm reacting to a drug bust that took place on a night not too long
ago. By their very nature, drug busts can be as joyful as a funeral for a
friend.

What this one did was reaffirm a very basic concept, the one about choice
and consequence walking hand in hand throughout the journey of our lives.

My acquaintance with the subjects of this bust was brief at best. Except by
name and sight, I didn't know them. We've spoken a time or two in passing,
but nothing said beyond a casual hello, what's up, nice day. As a couple
they seemed blessed, basking in their prime - the best time of their lives
- - when for reasons known only to them, they made a terrible choice.

Handsome, polite and well-spoken, he was quick of step, bright of eye and
made a good impression. She seemed sweet, petite and quiet - cheerleader
wholesome. The pathways of their lives were recently united and their karma
seemed aglow with the future they were planning.

You could see it, you could feel it, you could want it for their sake.
However, the alledged courtship of illicit drugs inside their hearts and
home brought about an inevitable consequence - the long arm of the law
knocking at their door, surrounded by police officers, police cars and the
lights and sounds of police work in progress.

Cupid may have been there but he was not in charge. When drugs rule, they
ruin lives by burning out the core of those involved, rendering an empty
shell, turning bright eyes into sneaky eyes and smiles into smirks.

Drugs trample love in trade for money and crush those hearts that care.

What we saw that night messed up our day, as well as that of many others.
It will no doubt mess up this couple's first Valentine's Day together, and
rightfully so. More than just statistics, they are faces, voices, people
that we know - but not as well as we had thought.

We expected better from them, wished better for them and now feel conned,
scammed, cheated out of what we wanted for them in their new lifetime together.

Youth is such a blessing, to waste it such a shame.

In the chill of that night, as they were handcuffed and arrested, we felt a
painful link, a dreadful human loss for two young valentines now pulled
apart by chains, misguided dreams and unsound choices.

Tom Dunlap's column appears Sundays.