Family and friends of Alex Elizabeth Ford came together Sunday to create a memorial for the young woman whose life was suddenly taken away.
"People can see it as they drive past the highway—this is where Alex Ford went to heaven," Blake Webster, Ford’s boyfriend said.
A homemade white wooden cross that bears her name and flowers are a few yards away from where Ford was killed.
"I don't think anybody will forget Alex but at least there will be something here for a couple of years as a memorial to her," Rick Ford, her father said.
On June 21, Ford was heading to her home in Watauga when elementary school teacher John Layton drove the wrong way on U.S. Highway 287, crashing into Ford's car head-on. Both drivers were killed.
Grand Prairie police said Layton's blood alcohol level was .314, nearly four times the legal limit.
In the days that followed, there was an outpour of support as family, friends and strangers mourned Ford’s death.
"People who knew her will never forget her because she lit up a room, she's just wonderful inside and out," Jennifer Rosenberg, Ford’s mother said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
Now three months after her death, Ford’s parent's say that this memorial is a step toward awareness.
"Take what lessons there are here, take what we can from it and understand life is short and we all need to make the best of everyday we have," Ford’s father said.
Rosenberg says that TxDOT along with the organization "Mothers Against Drunk Driving" will soon place a sign marking the memorial.
