It's been a bittersweet Mother's Day for Michelle Mantanona.
"It's hard its my very first Mother's Day and you know last year he was here," she said.
Just a year ago she was celebrating with her 8-year-old son Jarrett Paul until that time was cut short.
"We were going down Highway 83 and the truck that ran the stop sign he was speeding, he was blowing right across it and when I saw it, it was the blink of an eye and I had no time to react," said Matthew Mantanona, Jarrett's father.
The family's car was struck by an underage drunken driver. Jarrett was killed on impact.
Now it's his parents goal to make sure it doesn't happen to other families.
"Even though our son isn't here anymore, our main objective now is to raise awareness," said his mother.
They've held races and food drives all to bring attention the importance of preventing minors from accessing alcohol.
"There's a loophole in the law right now that doesn't hold anyone accountable for providing liquor to minors over the age of 18 and under the age of 21," said Mrs. Montanona.
The Mantanonas have made it their goal this year to try to set up Jarrett's Law in hopes it will become a state law that will make it tougher to provide alcohol to minors and drunken driving.
It's the main cause of deaths in traffic accidents in Abilene alone.
"It's tragic to say but one out of three fatalities in our community alone can be attributed to a drunk driver," said Abilene Chief of Police Stan Standridge.
The Mantanonas believe Jarrett's Law will help reduce drunk driving tragedies and serve as the legacy they want their son to leave behind.
"We have no doubt that he would have done something really great had he been given the chance to and hopefully with Jarrett's Law we can still do that for him," said Michelle Mantanona.
"It's hard its my very first Mother's Day and you know last year he was here," she said.
Just a year ago she was celebrating with her 8-year-old son Jarrett Paul until that time was cut short.
"We were going down Highway 83 and the truck that ran the stop sign he was speeding, he was blowing right across it and when I saw it, it was the blink of an eye and I had no time to react," said Matthew Mantanona, Jarrett's father.
The family's car was struck by an underage drunken driver. Jarrett was killed on impact.
Now it's his parents goal to make sure it doesn't happen to other families.
"Even though our son isn't here anymore, our main objective now is to raise awareness," said his mother.
They've held races and food drives all to bring attention the importance of preventing minors from accessing alcohol.
"There's a loophole in the law right now that doesn't hold anyone accountable for providing liquor to minors over the age of 18 and under the age of 21," said Mrs. Montanona.
The Mantanonas have made it their goal this year to try to set up Jarrett's Law in hopes it will become a state law that will make it tougher to provide alcohol to minors and drunken driving.
It's the main cause of deaths in traffic accidents in Abilene alone.
"It's tragic to say but one out of three fatalities in our community alone can be attributed to a drunk driver," said Abilene Chief of Police Stan Standridge.
The Mantanonas believe Jarrett's Law will help reduce drunk driving tragedies and serve as the legacy they want their son to leave behind.
"We have no doubt that he would have done something really great had he been given the chance to and hopefully with Jarrett's Law we can still do that for him," said Michelle Mantanona.
