July 13, 2011
Vol 13 No 28
September 2, 2015
‘His legacy is just beginning’ Recipes
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Easy ideas with grilled leftovers
Around Town
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Engineer honored
Photo courtesy Bev Creason Laurie Simon, Executive Director of Luke’s Legacy, Inc. (left) and Angie Maue, Founder/President, hold a photo of Angie’s son Luke Maue who was killed by a drunk driver.
How two St. Peters women formed an unlikely bond supporting safe and sober driving By Laurie Simon It was May 18, 2001 when Angie Maue headed off to the St. Louis Zoo with her son, Luke Maue and his entire first grade class for an end-of-the-year fieldtrip. Little did Angie know, she would be coming home that day without her seven-yearold son. At 1:30 p.m. on that fateful day in May, an underage 20-year-old-driver came barreling down Wells Avenue at a speed of 70 miles per hour, jumped the curb and instantly ended Luke’s life by hitting him while under the influence with a 0.22 blood alcohol content (BAC). I have a different story to tell, however. It was May 18, 2001 when I was a senior in high school getting ready to graduate and head off to college. In December 2010 I received my first DWI with a 0.22 BAC. After that night I decided to turn my life around for good, but addiction is a lot harder than that. I returned to my old drinking ways and in June 2011 after leaving my 10-year high school reunion, I was again pulled over and issued my second DWI. I was now a repeat offender. On Dec. 28, 2012 I took my last drink of alcohol. In 2013 I was fortunate to meet Angie Maue. I knew her name. Her son would have attended the same high school that I
did. Everything fell into place after that initial meeting. After explaining to Angie my struggles with alcohol, addiction and sobriety, she invited me to join her and her team at Luke’s Legacy, Inc. (LL), a 501©3 established in Luke’s name to bring awareness of drunk driving. Angie very well could have taken one look at me and said, “No, she is no different than the person who killed my son, she even had the same BAC as he did.” But that’s not how Angie Maue is. She sent me a message one day saying “you do know there is a reason you and Luke’s killer had the same BAC, right?” She followed it up with, “We’re in this together.” That’s exactly who Angie Maue is, a very faithful and gracious woman who will stop at nothing to make sure the tragedy that her and her family endured won’t happen to anyone else. Today, I am proud and honored to be the Executive Director of Luke’s Legacy, Inc. A former drunk driver is now on the forefront of a safe and sober driving organization. Who would have thought? That’s the unlikely bond formed by Angie Maue and myself. We have put our past behind to work on a much larger goal – to eliminate drunk driving, prevent underage drinking and educate our community, all while celebrating Luke’s life.
Luke’s Army Angie Maue has always believed there was a higher purpose for what happened to her son, and it is her mission to carry out his legacy by introducing Luke’s Army. The vision for Luke’s Army is explained best by Angie Maue herself who said, “I can’t do this alone, I need an army behind me!” See LEGACY on page 2
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