Hours before her graduation, Jennifer
Goonan was nowhere to be found. Earlier that spring day, she and her mother,
Maureen, had readied for the ceremony by getting pedicures followed by lunch. Festive
graduation decorations filled Maureen’s home and an ice cream cake sat in the
freezer. “She was so, so happy,” said Maureen.
At 3:30 in the afternoon, Maureen bolted
up from a nap and went to wash her car, which she would use to drive her
daughter to the Germanna Community College’s graduation that evening. But
Jennifer never came home.
“No one could find her,” said Maureen. “Someone
told me there was an accident, but it was just a truck. Finally, someone said
it was a gray car and I knew. I knew then it had to be her.”
As Jennifer made a left turn at a
blinking yellow traffic light, her car was hit with the full force of a lumber
truck. Both vehicles skidded into the median. Witnesses pulled over to help,
including a medical student from Germanna who held Jennifer’s hand as she died.
“She felt her pulse for just a second and told (Jennifer) she wasn’t alone,”
said Maureen.
Before
Maureen’s perception of children quickly
changed after giving birth to twin sons Jeff and John. “I really didn’t like
kids,” she said. “It was a St. Paul kind of thing where God knocked me off my
horse. (The boys) were just the love of my life. I would say I can’t imagine
anything better than being a mom to these babies.” A few years later, Maureen
and her husband, Frank, welcomed baby Jennifer.
After five years of long commutes,
Maureen quit her job at the Red Cross to spend more time with her children. “I
had three small children and I never saw them,” said Maureen. “Jennifer was so
excited when I said I wasn’t going to work anymore.”
Soon Maureen began volunteering at St.
Patrick School in Fredericksburg, and after a few months, she was offered a job
as kindergarten aide. Since 2000, she’s worked happily as a preschool teacher,
though now it’s part time.
Jeff, John and Jennifer all graduated
from the school where their mother taught. After graduating high school,
Jennifer took classes at Germanna while working in restaurants, said Maureen. Jennifer’s
real love was animals. The “goofy, happy” 24-year-old brunette had two dogs of
her own and was set to start work at an animal clinic two weeks after graduation.
During
When people heard what happened, the Goonans
received an “unbelievable” outpouring of support, said Maureen. “A friend
started a gofundme (page). People here were coming in to school and just
dropping money off,” she said. “(The day after the accident, the school) had
Mass and a rosary for her, and they don’t usually have Mass on Wednesdays. All
the kids gave me spiritual bouquets made with silk flowers and little cards of
prayers that they would say for her.” Family members, friends and mountains of
casseroles filled the Goonan’s home. “I just sat on our sofas for days with
people coming all the time. (Friends) wouldn’t let me out of their sight,” she
said.
At the rosary wake, people were lined up
out the door, said Maureen. Six priests presided at the funeral Mass at St.
Patrick the next day. Jennifer’s face was injured in the crash, so at the last
minute the family decided to close the casket. But beneath the lid, Jennifer
was dressed in a bright red cap and gown. “I wanted to show everybody because
she worked so hard,” said Maureen.
After
Six months later, it was Maureen wearing
a cap and gown, walking across the stage at Germanna to accept her degree in early
childhood education, and to receive her daughter’s diploma. Wiping tears from
her eyes, she gave advice to the new graduates. “Be kind to one another.”
During the ceremony, the school
announced the first recipient of the Jennifer Goonan Memorial Scholarship Fund,
which will go each year to a student working in the food service industry. The
webpage for the scholarship shows a picture of Jennifer smiling and looking
skyward.
“Jennifer’s career goal was to care for
animals as a veterinarian. But she loved helping people, too,” the site reads. “And
that always shined through, whether she was making others laugh in a
communications class at Germanna or waiting tables to pay tuition. She brought
such joy to those jobs.”
Now
Maureen likes to keep reminders of her
daughter close. A framed photo of Jennifer smiling sits on the windowsill in
the preschool classroom. Maureen wears a ring she gave her daughter for graduation.
“She got to wear it for two days,” she said.
She rereads notes that Jennifer used to
leave her. As a reminder to others, a white sign near the crash site reads,
“Drive carefully, in memory of Jennifer Goonan.”
Grieving has been difficult for the
family, but they know the truck driver who hit Jennifer’s car also is suffering
greatly from guilt. Maureen hopes to meet him when he feels ready, she said.
But for now, a mutual friend let the man know they empathize with his pain.
“This is what (my friend) wrote me,” Maureen
said, looking at her phone. “I saw the truck driver today. He is so very upset
still he can hardly talk. I hugged him very tight and told him it was from you.
I assured him all that you are wonderful people, and just as you all are going
on with your life, that you all want him to as well. ”
In the midst of everything, the school has
been a great blessing, said Maureen. “Oh my gosh, it’s helped (being) with the
little kids. The innocence and the love that they give back is just priceless.
The joy they come to school with every day,” she said. Both the hugs of small
children and the understanding of the fellow teachers and 20 years’ worth of
preschool parents made a difference. “I don’t know what happened here when the
whole school found out, but I just think it was wonderful — the sadness and the
pouring of love that came out.”
Find out more
To donate to the Jennifer Goonan Memorial Scholarship
Fund, call 540/423-9060 or go to
germanna.edu/educational-foundation/jennifer-goonan-scholarship.