Chapter One: In the beginning...there was a school crosswalk

Please bear with me, and subsequently with Phoebe as well, while I set the scene for the raison d'etre of Phoebe's Crosswalk Chronicles. Friday, February 5 was the official birth of this blog and the near-death experience of Phoebe. The two events have become linked and our family hopes that her traumatic near-death experience will be the safety and salvation of many other persons who are fortunate to live and work in the Avent West Community. So, who am I? Why is my insignificance, significant?

I am Dr. Steven Miller. I am the father of three wonderful young ladies (Phoebe is the oldest and you'll hear more about her shortly), and I am the devoted husband of one superb very much "better half" Carol. We are fortunate to live and work in the Avent West Community of Raleigh. We love it! We are so fortunate. We count our blessings each day. Our kids have gone to the best schools, they've been able to walk to the Athens Drive Public Library and other shopping as well as the NCSU Wolfline and the CAT bus line. We're fortunate to be close to everything. As an Assistant Principal at Athens Drive High School, I work with a superb staff of professionals who are also an extended family to my family. I am fortunate enough to walk to work. I use this very cross-walk three and four times per day. With the exception of very late nights, or very early mornings, I am always extra-cautious about crossing because it can be DANGEROUS!

I've heard a lot about blogging and have wanted to give it a try but I've not had the motivation nor the reason to blog. I have a love-hate relationship with writing and the English language. Writing has been a struggle since my elementary days growing up in Pennsylvania. I say this all to say that this blog is devoted to Phoebe and I envision that she'll soon be taking over responsibility and authorship when she has healed enough to do so. Phoebe, my eldest, is bright precocious and, unlike her Daddy, is talented with written and spoken English language. She has many God-given gifts. Although she struggles with image and self-doubt like any young adult growing up in the 21st Century Post-Modern World, thanks to many, many people, she will now have a chance to share her gifts with the world. Her life hung in the balance for a fraction of a second on a cold, dreary, and rainy, morning the Athens Drive school crosswalk on Friday, February 5, 2010.
The intent of this blog is two-fold. First, this blog will be devoted to sharing what promises to be a long recovery over the next several months for Phoebe. Phoebe is fortunate to have many friends and family members who want to know her statusThe second, and arguably most important mission of the blog will be to raise a groundswell of awareness and action to ensure the safety of each pedestrian who chooses to cross Athens Drive to or from Athens Drive Community High School or the Athens Drive Community Public Library. Hopefully the blog will raise awareness and action beyond the Avent West Community. Past injuries and near misses in the crosswalk have not yet been serious enough to warrant tipping the balance of the cost-benefit analysis towards ensuring greater safety rather than lesser safety for pedestrians in the cross-walk. This has got to change!