Embracing Life After Family Loss

Death In The Family

Death isn’t always the enemy. Life that is continued has the ability to change things that weren’t possible before. Premature death is a misfortune but it shows us we are not immortal. I grew up in the small town of Monroe, Louisiana and the oldest of six children. We were always together and enjoyed each others company, especially when it came to sports and competition. Our favorite sports to play were basketball and football, our parents even bought us our own basketball goal. When our parents let us have time to play outside, we would play with neighbors and friends until the street lights came on, which was a signal for our curfew. Some of the best memories I have is with my siblings. I can remember when I was fourteen, my mother finally allowed me to babysit on date night. I was so happy about babysitting because I saw it as real authority over my siblings and I could tell them what to do without a fight. I wanted to be in control, but also wanted to be the cool babysitter, so I decided to have a handstand contest. The rules were whoever can hold the longest handstand could have chocolate cookies before bed, my siblings were excited. Each one of us took turns doing a hand stand but falling quicker than we got up. Then it was my brother’s Said turn, he was the most athletic of the boys and the one I always wanted to beat in a race. He held his hand stand for twenty seconds but when he came down he his feet crashed into my mother’s marble and glass coffee table, shattering the glass. He was unharmed but the table was ruined. When my parents came home, they didn’t notice the table was missing until my younger sister blurted out we broke the table, we were grounded for weeks.
As we became older my s...

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..., cried and loved together. There was six of us and we stuck together stronger than any bond, nothing could tear us apart. When one was in trouble we worked together to make things better. As a child, I always wanted to be in charge and this was a way for me to really be in control, I wanted our family dynamics back. At his memorial I explained to everyone that this wasn’t the end of our family, everything happens for a reason. God saw that we didn’t appreciate each other and the bond we had before and in a way he took someone who he knew was strong home with him. Together we began to make the efforts to visit each other at least once a month and call more than once a week. We now plan like Sunday dinners and follow through. We are learning that tomorrow isn’t always promised and we should cherish the loved we have at that moment because it can easily be taken away.