The Death Of A Loving Someone Unconditionally

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Part of loving someone unconditionally includes not judging them. Losing my brother to first, his addiction and then to death has resulted in my deeper understanding of the commandment to love one another. By judging, I only robbed myself of precious time with him here on earth.
It was 3 a.m. and my cell phone was vibrating. I never turned it completely off just in case there was an emergency. As I slowly come out of a deep sleep, I questioned what I was hearing. I then became more aware of my surroundings and began to panic as I grabbed my phone because the caller ID read “Mom-Cell Phone”. I answered and said, “Mom?” My mother was crying hysterically and saying over and over again, “He’s gone, He’s gone”. At this point I thought she was referring to my father but then she said, “Todd is gone, he died in his sleep”. I will never forget those words from a loving mother who just lost her son. Her gut-wrenching cry pierced my heart as I tried to console her. Is this real? I asked myself that again and again. Is he really gone?
As the morning unfolded, I functioned under what felt like a spell. I notified my employer, cancelled a work trip and met up with my siblings to drive the 3 hours home to be with my parents. We cried as we came to the realization that our brother was really gone. We reminisced about our memories with him, how he made us laugh and how he made us cry. He didn’t make us cry because he was mean. We cried because he was an addict.
Todd’s addiction began after he returned early from his church mission because of knee pain. He received a knee replacement and was immediately prescribed narcotics for the pain. I had no clue the turmoil this would cause in his life. Over the years, his addictio...

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...father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him”. This parable isn’t about the wasted money but about a dear son who is lost. Through this parable, Christ taught us how to respond when a family member loses his or her way.
I am grateful that Todd always loved me and greeted me with open arms even though I was lost and consumed with anger and resentment. Because of his death, I will be forever humbled. For it was he who loved unconditionally. It was he that sympathized with my pain. It was he that forgave me. This tragic experience of loss has made me appreciate more, the time I spend with my family. I never leave someone’s presence or end a phone call without saying, “I love you”. I am now quick to love and to compliment than I am to judge because I never want to feel that pit in my stomach again, that pit called guilt.

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