“He grabbed the remote and asked if I wanted something to eat. I said I could throw something in the oven for us. However, he wanted something from the store. ‘Fine, but just take the car, boo,’ I whined. ‘Babe, let me be a man,’ he smirked as he closed the door. It shouldn’t have taken him more than 30 minutes. Where was he?”
‘Wait. Are those police lights? I walked closer to the intersection. ‘What happened?’ I grabbed an officer. ‘Ma’am. What is your name?’ I answered. Silence.’
‘MOM! Something is wrong with Dad, he’s on the floor!’ My 14-year-old son was frantic. Only 30 minutes prior, we were laughing about the fact my husband didn’t meet us at the pool.’
“We assumed his game of beach volleyball with our son wore him out, and he was tired and laid down for a quick rest. Little did we know those moments after his shower, he lay on the bathroom floor of our rental house; alone.”
‘He was out at a restaurant with my brother. The next morning, my entire life was over. ‘Caroline. He’s not breathing.’ I snapped back, ‘What? What are you talking about?’
“Someone I love dearly timidly asked, ‘Did he do those things regularly?’ I considered keeping his secret. I chose not to disclose WHY he died. I told people, tight-lipped, ‘He died in his sleep.’ I held onto the shame and guilt. ‘I’ll do this for you,’ I thought.”
‘I was desperate. I called him. He told me I over-iced it and hung up. But he was the best, right? Then I felt a lump. I was home alone when I got the call, I will never forget.’
“I remember signing papers before surgery that said, ‘Check here if willing to receive blood in case of emergency.’ I asked my doctor, ‘Why would I need blood?’ He replied, ‘You won’t, it’s just a formality.’ I trusted him. I believed him.”
‘A pickup truck was following me. He asked if I would ‘spend some time with him,’ and was offering me a lot of money. I was thinking just like the addict I was. ‘Sure, let me lock up my bike.’
“Last week, this particular lieutenant came in and I had a Deja-vu moment remembering when he was dressed as a doctor, and I got into his pickup. ‘Don’t you remember me?’ He looked at me like I was crazy. ‘No I’m sorry, I don’t.’”
‘I’ve been married 4 times. Yes, you read that right, 4 times. I met my first husband when I was in 8th grade. I asked her who ‘he’ was. She said it was my cousin.’
“Graduation night arrives and I am 18. Time to run away from home. Oh my gosh, what was I about to do? I left my parents a note on the kitchen table.”
‘Let’s get married. Hurricane Michael has taken enough from us, we can’t let it take this.’ First responders wed despite hurricane destruction and heartache
“Everything went wrong for our wedding. Most people would think that it is a ‘sign.’ I think it is. It’s a sign that our love is stronger than a Category 5 hurricane.”
‘I finally got the words out, ‘I DON’T WANT TO LIVE ANYMORE!’ I grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen, filled my hand and swallowed. I will never, ever forget the look on her face.’
“The last message she sent to me read, ‘You don’t matter anyways, maybe you should just disappear.’”
‘He’s out here everyday in the hot sun trying to earn money, and not beg for it or rob for it.’
“I barely even know him but he has touched and inspired me so much.”
‘From the very beginning I knew something wasn’t right with me. I never got married and never had children. I kept using drugs to forget the pain I felt in my soul.’
“It was always someone else’s fault. My father was a drug addict and died of AIDS on my 20th birthday as a result of his heroin addiction, so I blamed him. I was never willing to take responsibility for myself and my decisions.”
