My Brother's Sudden Death
by Beyondgrief
My brother was looking forward to this weekend just like he did every other weekend. On Friday, he came home from work, got dressed, said his goodbyes, and walked out the door. The next morning when my mother realized he hadn't come home, she got a bad feeling and panicked. She began calling all his friends to see if they knew who he was with and where he had spent the night.
No one knew where my brother was.
One of my brother's friends told my mother he had tried to stop a fight between my brother and a guy who had picked on him for no reason at all. The whole family was worried, but my mother, with a mother's instinct, felt something was wrong. My brother always called, no matter what the hour, to let us know if he was staying over at someone's house.
Around 3:00 pm that afternoon, there was a knock at the door. Two men and a woman were standing at the door with blank expressions on their faces. They asked for both my parents. My mother let them in and they all sat down. The female officer gave my parents the bad news.
"Your son has been murdered."
My mother was in shock and did not show any emotion. The color drained from my father's face. He got up and went over to my mother. He looked her in the eyes and said, "Our baby is dead." His words broke through her haze and she began to cry as she realized the truth of what was being said. My father held her in his arms and began to cry with her. They called the family over and, one by one, told everyone in person what had happened.
My grandfather gave me the news. I will never forget that moment or the look on his face. Ever since I heard my brother had been murdered there has been an enormous silence. The clock has slowed down and everything I see is dark. Seeing my brother in the casket made me sick to my stomach and I had to be escorted out of the room.
There are no words to explain what I felt at the moment. Although he looked as if he were sleeping, and despite the good cosmetic work, I could still see where he had been shot. All that ran through my mind when I saw him was that it wasn't his time and that he shouldn't have died that way. He was only 20 years old. He had a whole life ahead of him and his girlfriend was expecting his baby. He had goals and dreams he was trying to fulfill.
I have always been a woman of faith and forgiveness but the enormous amount of pain I am feeling leaves no room for me to forgive the individuals who have done this to him. I pray to God that justice is served so that there can be closure to this story. Nothing will bring my brother back but seeing the individuals responsible for his death pay for their actions will help the entire family move on and cope with our grief. Life for me, and my entire family will never be the same. I just hope I can deal with his loss and find out my purpose for living.
Gladys Q is a Beyond Indigo Member