“I started to notice she wasn’t ‘just like her sister’ around 9 months old. She still didn’t have her first teeth, and was barely babbling any words, let alone noises.”
‘I spent hours searching, which told me my daughter had autism and was mentally impaired. I cried and cried for weeks, absolutely devastated my child was ‘not like the rest.’
‘I heard rumbling uncharacteristic of the bathroom. Shouting ensued. I burst in to discover my son had hurled a suitcase into the shower at his sister.’
“I heard a frantic screaming from upstairs. My daughter had gone into the bathroom to use the toilet. This provoked the unbridled anger of her brother. Infuriated, he stood and peed on her in retribution.”
‘I begged for you to stay the night, but you said you had to go. I gave you a big hug, not knowing it would be the last. You told me you would see me soon. I believed you.’
“As it hit midnight, I felt this overwhelming urge to call you. I knew something wasn’t right. I fell to the floor in shock. ‘Your sister has taken her life.’ I could not believe you were gone.”
‘It was a busy day for me in the ER. I had 5 very sick patients. When I checked my phone, I had 10 missed calls. I called my dad back and he told me to sit down. My heart instantly sank.’
“I scanned the monitors and medications as any good nurse would do. I then saw my sister. And I knew.”
‘Their engagement ended, and he had an extra 6 months to look forward to in the jungle. He is a Vietnam Veteran. He is tougher than nails. He is often on the verge of tears.’
“His sister was enjoying the freedom that came with being a hippie. He went to her home, in uniform. That day, she overdosed on drugs. When the ambulance came, she looked at him and said, ‘I wish you had been killed over there.’”
‘I prayed for him to be arrested. I didn’t want my brother to be harmed, but I wanted him safe. I wanted him to have a chance. I knew if he ran, it would not end well.’
“I finally got the courage to empty the room where you once slept, back when you were you. I have finally processed the pain. I’ve finally stopped blaming myself – for the most part.”
‘They told me, ‘She’s shy.’ Out of curiosity, I asked them about her face. They told me it was a birthmark, and that she gets picked on about it a lot.’
“After their ride I walked them back over to their grandparent’s car. I said to the little girl, ‘How come you didn’t want to go for a ride?’ She said, ‘Well, the boys always say that stuff is just for boys, not for girls.'”
‘I saw the fear in his eyes. He knew. His heart knew. His girl wasn’t ok. Both his beautiful girls were in the fight of their lives.’
“We sat there watching our beautiful, vibrant, sassy girl waste away. The shower was for sobbing. Then Kylie’s mother got an urgent phone call. The labs taken revealed something unimaginable. I held that 6-foot, 175-pound boy. I rocked him as he asked if he would lose her.”
‘Right away I knew something was wrong. When the officer told us that he’s so sorry, but Mark died in a car accident, I completely lost it.’
“I know without a doubt my baby brother Mark put us together to save my life.”
‘To some, Maddie was just a junkie — when they saw her addiction, they stopped seeing her. And what a loss for them.’
“Though we would have paid any ransom to have her back, any price in the world, this disease would not let her go until she was gone.”
