The next two deaths- Evolution of a Family (637 hits)
Category: NoneLabels: fiction
Rating: 1.8 on 25 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Corn Nugget (View user info) at 2005-05-18 11:39:36 EDT
More than fifteen years passed before my family experienced death again.
We had overcome last death, our tragic loss, our story of sorrow. The evolution of our grief can be measured by our thoughts as we knelt on the prie dieu. Our prayers shifted from the loss of Tommy to the acceptance of his death. Slowly we started praying for the next loss to be easier. Time was not on our side, it was due time that someone else died.
My mother was old, but healthy. She still found time to engage in her five mile bike ride each morning. She hadn't smoked a cigarette since her days as a barmaid. Her decision not to drink alcohol was made out of necessity; our family could not afford to sustain another addiction, neither financially or morally. Mother was the stronghold amidst many drunken sons, a drunken husband, and emotionally wrecked daughters.
Dad seemed to be inching towards his deathbed. After drinking and smoking heavily for many years, he was only a shell of his former self. His words flowed together, making each of his statements a garbled, unintelligible mess. Each time he coughed we were reminded of the disease which surely must be camping in his lungs. The most activity he had in a day consisted of the short walk between his arm-chair and the refrigerator.
Tommys death was the crux; the downfall of our family. The men medicated their sorrow with Strohs, and the women turned to the church. I often wonder what would become of us without this tragedy to lean on.
And so, we stopped praying for Tommys soul, and focused on my fathers mortality. There was much ado in our house- trying to hide the beer, sabotage the cigarettes, skim fat out of the food. Each of us scurried around, trying to save our father, one trick at a time.
We should have focused our energy on Walter.
Walter was my oldest brother. As a child, he was our protector. As a teen he often acted as a gaurdian, teacher and father to his nine younger siblings, myself included. His strong mind and fierce will made him seem unbreakable...
Until Tommy was killed.
Then we watched Walters will slowly shatter. We watched as he raised the beer can to his lips, day after day, month after month. We sat with him as he cried that drunken cry, patting his knee and soothing his hair. The drinking stopped being his crutch, and started being his life.
It was early morning when I found Walter in our drive. The dew still clung to the grass and the darkness was still woven through the sky. I knew immediately that he was dead, even though it was much more likely he was simply passed-out. Still, I nudged his shoulder with my toe, hoping for a grunt or a sigh. There were neither.
While the tears of anger were welling up in my eyes, I watched his chest for the tell tale rise and fall. Indeed, Walter had escaped. He would not have to kneel at the funeral, cry before the world, and question God, humanity, and mortality.
Walters funeral was not only his. Each and every one of us divided our grief between Walter, our fallen angel, and Tommy, our saint.
We would not have to wait another fifteen years for another death.
My father followed Walter into heaven not two weeks later. I'm sure they both stumbled up the same glittery drunken road, knelt before St. Peter, and swore off the drink as many times in the afterlife as they had in their mortal lives.
I imagine St. Peter has heard the repentance of a drunken sinner often enough to know that a drunk, by nature, would always succumb to his weakness. His weakness being a mix of barley, oats, and a slow brewing process.
User Reviews
Submitted by girlintheworld (user info) at 2005-05-19 18:54:05 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by BillsSBChamps (user info) at 2005-05-18 19:53:36 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Submitted by hafguitarist6767 (user info) at 2005-05-18 13:37:32 (#)
Ranking: -2
boo hoo
---------------
Fuck you, you piece of shit.
Submitted by knucklesnelson (user info) at 2005-05-18 19:48:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
death yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy
GO PISTONS WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Submitted by thecaes (user info) at 2005-05-18 18:50:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Totally awesome. In a destroys-me-on-an-emotional-level kind of way.
Submitted by cuberat (user info) at 2005-05-18 13:45:23 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by hafguitarist6767 (user info) at 2005-05-18 13:37:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
boo hoo
Submitted by JMG114 (user info) at 2005-05-18 13:18:47 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Superconsciousness.
Submitted by firefly (user info) at 2005-05-18 13:06:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by MANICMOTHER (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:56:41 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Death, the only thing we can count on in life.
It is relief for those in pain, yet brings pain for those left behind.
People fear it. People embrace it.
It is the ultimate conundrum.
Submitted by Crystle (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:54:13 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by munkeypants (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:35:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
No Comment
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:28:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
haha Shut up Mick... I'm trying to divert attention AWAY from my sex life!
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:27:21 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Started here http://www.ubersite.com/m/66069
Submitted by MickGinny (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:26:30 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
hey, are you the girl that uh, you know...likes to "do it"?
Submitted by corn_nugget (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:26:11 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh, this is fiction.
Submitted by vodka7tall (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:19:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Finding your brother dead on the lawn really has to fuck a person up. And then to have your dad die 2 weeks later? BEYOND comprehension...
Submitted by JulsInsane (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:16:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Really well written.
Coming from a huge family we have our fair share of addictions. When I started to drink (sociallly) I was about 16 and my mother had all these really odd rules about drinking like women don't drink from a pint glass its unseemly. Now I realise that she really saw some of the personality traits that my father has (he isn't an alcoholic but he could have been one without my mom) and her brother who has lost his family, his self respect, and his health.
She waits for that call from Ireland that one of his benders has ended his life.
Submitted by mles76 (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:15:53 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I've been there, well written as well.
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:14:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Damn.
I don't want to live that life.
Submitted by Teephphah (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:12:31 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
. . . . . . .
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:06:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
fuck..pressed submit too soon...
i went to AA a few times with a buddy who, when drunk, shat on a school bus, got arrested, and was sentenced to aa. it was moving seeing how fucked upthe people who spoke at it were, or are, in several cases. but more than anything, it made me feel relieved. sure, i may get blacked out drunk once a week on average, but i don't drink during the week. i felt relieved because i saw how much worse these people had it than me. they needed to get dru nk every day, to do anything.
now i feel confident, that my alcoholism isn't that bad. i dont' drink any drive anymore, and it doesn't interfere with the rest of my life.
"hey made my alcoholism seem less raging."
-lenmny
Submitted by MyNameIsTim (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:02:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
i went to AA a few times with a buddy who, when drunk, shat on a school bus, got arrested, and sentenced to aa
Submitted by Merlina (user info) at 2005-05-18 12:01:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ooh sad..
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2005-05-18 11:55:58 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
ok so I'm going to jump out this window now
Submitted by BLITZKREIG_BOB (user info) at 2005-05-18 11:50:35 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Sheesh.