There is perhaps nothing more tragic than the passing of a young person who was on their way to adulthood.

Young people have a lot to look forward to.

They may have plans to attend college and work towards a fulfilling career.

Or they may have plans to enter the workforce and start their own family.

However, sometimes the tragedies of life prevent some from reaching those milestones, and the family is left to mourn a great loss.

There are no words that can help the family of the young man that passed due to a Tuesday afternoon traffic accident. Only the passage of time can lessen the pain they feel.

However, that pain will always remain, it will just hurt a bit less as the years pass.

We know their friends and family are by their side.

While people in this community move forward with their lives and begin to cope with the loss, we want to extend a word of hope.

While life is a mixture of joy and sorrow, there is a light at the end that all can look forward to; when one life ends, another begins.

The problem is that Pearl River County is rural, and therefore young people are required to start driving earlier than in other areas of the country.

The lack of public transportation means people need to drive in order to arrive at school or their first job.

This puts our young people in the path of the dangers of the road.

All we can all do is prepare our youth for the dangers of operating a motor vehicle as best we can, and hope that a series of unfortunate events does not find them in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Our sincerest condolences go out to the family of the young man who passed Tuesday evening on a county road.