Danny was my older brother who left this world far too soon on August 26th, 2002, due to a drug overdose. There’s no denying that my brother was a troubled soul. He often found himself in the wrong crowds, getting into trouble with the law, or just starting fights for the fun of it. But what my brother also was, was someone who loved fiercely, someone who was loyal to a fault, and someone who if you were lucky enough to make it into his circle, he would literally do anything for you. My brother and I grew up with your typical sibling banter. He was 4 years older than me, meaning that I was the annoying younger sibling who just wanted to be a part of his world, which usually just ended in him beating me up. Danny was tough. He was the guy that everyone knew not to get on his bad side. He was the one that could make someone run away crying just by looking at him (especially if it was a boy that I tried to date). Notice the word try. He was never fond of me dating, but not for the sake of outright trying to ruin my relationships, but because he truly believed that no one was good enough for me.
My brother was a protector. He was difficult to deal with, and often very closed off, but once you got past the hard exterior side, you were in for life. Although he let the world believe in this tough guy persona, he also had a much softer, truly genuine side that would make you melt. Yes he yelled at me for just about everything and anything during most of my teenage years, but it was to make sure that I stayed out of trouble and didn’t follow in his footsteps. Yes he would walk by and smack me upside the back of the head for no reason whatsoever, but he was also the one that would let me sleep in his room on Christmas Eve just so he could wake me up at midnight by singing Happy Birthday to me. He was the one that would come in my room at night and just stay with me until I fell asleep if I had a bad dream and was scared. He was also the one that for my 16th birthday, flew me out to Vegas to visit him. He took me to 3 Vegas shows, nice dinners every night, and did basically every attraction that I wanted to do without question. As a kid money wasn’t something I really thought about, but I look back on that trip now and can’t even imagine how much he spent on me during that trip. All just to make his little sister happy.
Danny was a lot of things to a lot of people, but to me… he was my rock, he was everything. The day he passed; my life shattered into a million pieces. To this day, the 22nd anniversary of his passing, I am still trying to pick up the pieces. What I do know however is that his death was not in vain. I have made it my mission to always speak out, to use any and all opportunities to get involved with community events that raise awareness of substance abuse, to always be there to listen to those struggling, and most importantly…. to never allow my brothers memory to be forgotten. My brother may no longer be on this earth physically, but I promise you that he will forever live on in the hearts that knew him.
I refuse for my brother’s death to be for nothing. So, I will continue telling his story to all that are willing to listen in hopes that it can save another family from going through the pain that we did. Although he’s no longer physically here… his memory will live on forever.
コメント