Julie Cottrell

The Natchez Democrat

In a eulogy written by one of his classmates, Eric Scott Smith&8217;s smile is remembered as &8220;quirky,&8221; and that smile is something his mom will never forget.

&8220;He always had a smile on his face. He never met a stranger. He was so easy-going and laid back,&8221; said Wanda Smith of Ridgecrest.

Smith&8217;s 17-year-old son died almost seven years ago, on Jan. 22, 2000, in a car accident on Doty Road in Ferriday. He was driving from a friend&8217;s house to visit his older sister on a Saturday afternoon when his car ran off the slick road and into a ditch. He was pronounced dead on the scene.

A roadside memorial &8212; a cross made of metal bearing a plaque with his name in the middle &8212; stands in his honor at the place of his death, in the middle of a broad green field. Smith said Eric&8217;s friends most likely keep it clean and decorated.

&8220;He had a lot of friends, I couldn&8217;t even begin to tell you,&8221; she said. &8220;I can&8217;t name anybody that didn&8217;t have something good to say about him. He had no enemies, he made friends so easy. The only time he had enemies, maybe, was during a sports game, because of the competition. But after that, they would go back to being friends.&8221;

Eric was a star baseball player at Huntington. He had played baseball since he was 5 years old, and he dreamed of one day playing professionally. He also played basketball, and one year of football.

Smith said she loved attending Eric&8217;s games, and rarely missed one.

&8220;I might have missed one because my daughter had been in the hospital. But once, I had gall bladder surgery on a Saturday and went to his game on a Sunday.&8221;

This time of the year is especially tough for Smith and her family &8212; first there is Christmas, then Eric&8217;s birthday, Dec. 29, and only a few weeks later comes the anniversary of his death. Smith said she copes by keeping Eric alive through her memory and her words.

&8220;What has helped me a lot is that I talk about him. He was a part of me that still exists,&8221; she said.

She remembers that his last Christmas was a special one.

&8220;He got everything he wanted that Christmas. A PlayStation, a CD player for his car and a pair of Doc Marten&8217;s he really wanted, those were the three big things. And who knows? Maybe he got everything because he wasn&8217;t going to be here anymore.&8221;

Smith visited Eric&8217;s roadside memorial for only the second time last week. She said it was hard, but not as hard as it was the first time.

&8220;It kinda makes me feel good because I didn&8217;t do that, his friends did it. They must have thought very highly of him,&8221; she said.

Out of every tragedy comes some wisdom, and Smith said she has learned that life is precious.

&8220;It&8217;s the hardest thing I&8217;ve ever had to deal with. You think you&8217;re supposed to go before your children. You can&8217;t take anything for granted. You&8217;re here one day and you could be gone the next. Some people think they&8217;re indispensable, but they&8217;re not.&8221;

Smith also makes sure to always wear her seat belt, because Eric wasn&8217;t wearing his that day.

&8220;I used to be bad about it before, but I&8217;m not now,&8221; she said.

The day of Eric&8217;s funeral, Jan. 25, 2000, Huntington dismissed classes, so that all of Eric&8217;s friends could say a final goodbye.

Though seven years have passed, Smith said she is still taking it just one day at a time.

&8220;That first year, it was really, really hard. And every holiday was hard. With time, the pain doesn&8217;t get any less, you just learn to deal with it,&8221; she said.