'It's a crushing weight': Baird family partners with TxDOT after losing teen

Aspen Blessing, 18, was killed on the morning of March 10 when a driver allegedly drove drunk on the wrong side of Interstate Highway 20 and hit her car head on.

The family is speaking out, hoping to change the minds of anyone who is thinking about driving while under the influence. They have decided to use this tragedy to help those around them.

Jennifer Blessing, Aspen's mother, recently announced a partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation to visit schools and share their testimony in hopes of changing generations.

'It's a crushing weight'

The Blessing family began in 2000 when Jennifer and Drew were married. Since then, they have had a total of eight children but have unfortunately lost two.

Their second child only lived for 12 days, and according to Jennifer, it was just a really hard season.

In March, however, when the couple lost Aspen, Jennifer said that the loss "immediately just connected us deeper." Since then, they have all grown closer together, making family a top priority amidst anything else.

But the hardest part has been that her "daughter did everything right," Jennifer said.

"She was buckled. She wasn't speeding. It was one man's choices that caused just destruction and a ripple effect of not just our family, but his family as well," she said.

"It's a crushing weight," Jennifer said of the loss they have experienced.

But she added, "Our faith is so strong that we know that in the heart and in the mess of it all that the Lord is going to use this to impact people and to change generations."

Jennifer has been a pillar of strength for her family in this second loss of a child and has decided to use this tragedy to help prevent any other family from going through a similar experience.

Her family has had a platform thrust upon them, and she stressed that they had two choices.

"You can take it and use it to empower people and change things, or you can ignore it, and we've chosen to just keep doing it," she said.

The family has now partnered with TxDOT in hopes that Aspen's "story can change lives and change generations and that one day we'll see the ripple effect, so it'll all be worth it," Jennifer said.

'Everything can change in a second'

In Texas, the last day without a fatality on the roads was Nov. 7, 2000, said Jill Christie, a traffic safety specialist with the TxDOT Abilene District.

Christie said that while not all crashes can be attributed to drunk drivers, most crashes occur due to driver behavior, such as inattention, speeding and driving under the influence.

"There's consequences to the decisions that we make, and especially behind the wheel, because everything can change in a second," she said.

She said that TxDOT is so thankful for the partnership with the Blessing family in using a "tragic situation to help save lives." She said it is unheard of for a family to partner so quickly and so openly after a loss.

TxDOT will now use Aspen's story and her crushed car at drinking and driving presentations at local schools. They plan to share "this message and their testimony throughout both Abilene and Brownwood Districts," according to Kristie Harwell, a traffic safety specialist for the TxDOT Brownwood District.

When speaking of the Blessing's first school presentation, Christie said there were tears as the emotions were high, but that's the part that shows that they are making a difference.

In the future, they hope to have "the opportunity to go to as many schools and community events that will have us because this is a message that we believe will save lives," she said.

'Even in the dark, there is light and hope'

The driver of the car that allegedly struck Aspen on March 10 was charged with intoxicated manslaughter and manslaughter, according to court documents.

Brenden Lucero, 28, of Cassville, Missouri, was free Thursday from Callahan County Jail on a $250,000 attorney bond, according to online jail records.

When Jennifer spoke of the possible sentence for him, she said, "20 years at first seems like nothing, like a slap on the wrist," but that while "he did make a terrible choice, he has a family and a life, and we are praying that in this he will find the freedom and forgiveness that we walk in."

Family members are awaiting a possible jury trial in Callahan County, but they hope Lucero will take a plea deal.

"We pray that the Lord can use this to shift his heart and become an advocate," Jennifer said. "Even in the dark, there is light and hope."

While the family has not met the driver in person, they hope to.

"The Lord calls us to forgive," she said.

"We want to model that for our kids, for people watching, that you can live in bitterness and hatred and ruin your life, or you can choose to forgive and walk in joy in the heart and continue living life and celebrate the victories," she said.

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This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: Baird family partners with TxDOT after losing teen in wrong-way crash