A letter to Heaven for Katey.

Katey,

There are so many things I wish I could’ve told you before you went. Over the past two weeks, I’ve been going through the cycle of being angry, feeling hopeless, and depressed. I see our family falling apart since you’ve been gone. I’ve been mad because of how you did it, there was no thought put in to it, just a drugged pull of a trigger. I’ve been mad because you left behind your four year old daughter. You left her motherless, just like you had been for most of your life. I don’t think it’s what you wanted, in fact I know that’s not what you wanted, and I’m sad because I know it happened because you were scared. You felt so alone in that single moment.

We all have survivors guilt over here in a sense. Dad’s blaming himself for not locking the doors to the house. I’m blaming myself for not calling to tell you Happy Mother’s Day earlier that morning. I thought to myself “I’ll call her tonight”, completely taking for granted your timing here on earth.

Telling your daughter, my niece, that day that mommy was in heaven was the hardest day of my life.

I’m thankful I didn’t go in to the room and say goodbye to you. I didn’t want my last memory of you to be that. I’ll hold on to the last memory of you eating chicken fingers on the porch and your daughter flying her kite as we talked about life and the little things.

Katey my world has been flipped upside down since you’ve been gone. I hear your daughter talk day and night about how she loved her mommy, and the little things mommy used to do. I hold her so much closer and pray she never feels the way you did in that moment. I pray when she’s older and finds out what really happened to mommy that she never doubts your love for her. Katey, I just wish I could hug you or simply hear you call my name from downstairs one more time.
I’m trying to be strong for everyone else, but it leaves me alone at night with no one to be strong for me.

This letter to you is all over the place and I have a thousand more things to say, but for now this will do. I’ll continue to take care of your little girl and never let her forget you Katey. You are forever so loved.

Just found out I lost my brother Joe to suicide

I just found out I lost my brother Joe to suicide. I have not been close to my family for a long time. By choice. I have already done a whole lot of grieving. Thank God.
We loved each other. But we weren’t even remotely “close,” at all, either. That is my family.
We really had very, very few bonding moments. When we were little, he introduced me to the Beatles via records at our house, records at his friend’s and his friend’s brother’s records. I just remember a stretch–I was only like six or seven–and I got to tag along and just got immersed in the Beatles. I love him for that. Sounds sort of silly writing that–but it’s not. We also bonded over the Beastie Boys. Paul’s Boutique. Lol. I was freaking out over it when I got it and he ‘got’ it. No one was listening to PB at when it came out. Lol.
Joe was a trip, for sure. To his own drummer. The Lost Child. Very, very smart. But also lost in his head, too.
I remember the night my mom kicked my dad out of the house. I was like five or six. Joe and I listened to them yell at each other–Joe tried to reassure me things would be okay. He was like seven and I know he was as twisted over it as I was–and he had no clue if things were going to turn out okay (they didn’t).
Twenty-plus years ago, I raised our family issues with him, but he wasn’t open to talking about it. I let everyone know I was in recovery, clean and sober and all, and then I detached. I showed what boundaries and detaching looked like, whether family members hated me for it or not, or didn’t get it, or whatever.
We had some brief email connections in the last several years. Nothing major, but he knew I loved him and vise-versa.
I love you, Joe.
I hope you are in a better place, and I absolutely believe everything does work out in the universe in the end.

I’m Sorry.

Hey Tash,
I’ve rewritten this letter countless times, in my head, in blogs, and now here where I’ll hopefully finish. I miss you. TJ misses you. I’m sure your girls do too, they loved their mommy so much. I don’t see them anymore. Since you left us, everything has fallen apart.
Mom is 20 hours away and can’t focus on anyone but herself. My dad is practically a drunk now. TJ is so full of guilt that I’m not sure if he’s going to make it. Adam took the girls and we haven’t heard from them since.
I’m sorry I was never there, I’m sorry I didn’t go to Ulta with you or to get pedicures. I’m sorry I never kept in touch after I moved, I’m sorry I missed your last birthday so I could go to a football game. I’m sorry for not being a sister to you. I’m sorry for not being more patient.
Why did you leave? Why did you overdose? Why couldn’t you have gone somewhere for help instead?
I have so much to say to you Tasha, I just want to hear your voice and tell you how sorry I am. I want to tell you how proud I am about how well you were doing before all of this. It’s already been over a year but all the pain is still inside me, and it won’t go away. I need to talk to you. I need to hear you.
I love you Tash,
Hope

Why did you leave me

Dear Mathapelo
Why did you leave me, why did you take your life? I wish you could have told me your intentions. I miss you so much. Why did you leave tour daughter, you loved her so much but you left her. You were supposed to have not killed yourself, i need my sister and my friend. I have no one to talk to, a lot is happening in my life but one good thing is that I now have a baby girl and i wish you have met her. Please help me to understand and stop crying, its now 7years but it still hurts so much. How do i accept you are gone forever?
I miss you dear sister
Your sister
LERATO

to my brother,Gareth Nedoszytko

Its a year to the day that you decided you could no longer cope with being. I want to let you that i have never nor ever will judge your choice.
I just hope you know just how many people love and miss you. There’s not a day I don’t miss you. I can’t count how many times I’ve wanted to share silly little things with you. How many times I’ve needed you. Wondered what you would have thought about things.
I hope you are at peace now and are watching and guiding us all. Love you and I know we’ll meet again.xxx

LSD Took My Baby Brother

On Friday, May 25th, 2018, my little baby brother (16 yrs old) took three tabs of LSD 8 hours before jumping nine stories to his death, impaled on a fence. I had gone away to college for the year and had been back for only two days before he ended his life. He was beating depression and saw a future for himself. He was my best friend and wanted to move in with me next year while I was in college. I am in so much pain that he is gone forever. I feel his spirit sometimes but I don’t know if that’s even real. I just wish he had called me. I wish he hadn’t have done the drugs because I know he would not have done this if he had truly been thinking straight. I just don’t know how to cope at all. He was my only sibling. I always took care of him, especially after my parents got divorced and my father became a violent alcoholic. I have just been through so much and can’t deal with this on top of everything. I didn’t have enough time with him. there was so much I wanted to teach him about life and freedom and how much better life gets. I just don’t know what to do or feel. I feel numb. I feel lost. I am broken.

6 months… It hurts so bad ):

Serg, I can’t believe its been 6 months that you have been gone, we feel as if this is just a bad dream and you will show up somehow in your camoflouge print shorts and white t-shirt with your house flip flops that we constantly made fun of… We played scrabble with dad tonight and we kept remembering you sitting there eating everything in sight & you rooting for your big sis to always win. I miss you so freakin much it hurts to the core my heart aches every day & I constantly think of WHY you went away in this horrible way. WHY serg, our mom is slowly dyeing inside if only you could see her so devastated, our dad strong but hurting so much inside. Our family will never ever be the same.. You forced this heartache upon us WHY, we love you so much & you knew we would do anything for you.. I keep blaming myself because you came to me for help and although I helped you every way I possibly could I fell short it wasnt enough, Fred tries to make me feel better and although I have been the best sister I possibly can be to you and Tony, I fell short You didn’t love me like I love you.. You promised me you wouldnt ever put me through this and you promised our dad you wouldnt do this to mom but yet your gone. We will live the rest of our life with this pain and heartbreak that noone will ever be able to mend or help. I guess this was our destiny and all we can do is try to make sense of something that we do not understand. I will never ever be mad at you for changing our life but I will tell you this was extremely unfair, no loving family deserves to go through this and I pray that God blesses everyone that experiences a loss like this because only the people living with this horrible heartache understands the day to day struggle we endure. Unfortunately there is no going back in time all we can do is look forward to seeing you again in the afterlife in the kingdom of God because I know you are with him, our god is a forgiving and loving god that understands your troubles and will embrace you and take away all your pain. I will never ever say goodbye to you because this was not a goodbye this is a “see you later” & although I can’t hug nor kiss you I hold onto you in my heart and am saving all the physical kisses & hugs till I see you again.. Love you always & forever Serg. Your Sis…

The ones who are too full of love

My little brother laid down on the railroad tracks on May 29, 1995. Tonight is May 29, 2018. I will regret to my dying day not telling my boss to shove it if he fired me for calling in sick on May 29,1995. What I am seeing this night on the Internet is that it is our brightest, funniest, and kindest males that we are losing. Maybe we all need to learn to celebrate a man’s feelings, not condemn them for having them. Condemn those who don’t. I know for a fact my little brother was on the outside of a bar crying for a long time before he wandered off presumably to go home and wound up on the railroad tracks. At least those of us who know should take the time to put our arms around and cry with any strange male we see crying. Forget what the world thinks about it, cry with him and you may save a life.

Missing you Kate

Kate, it’s been a little over a month since we lost you. I have so many questions that I’m starting to realize I’ll never have answers to. I keep wondering if there was anything I could’ve done to stop you from doing this. Mom and Dad are so sad and distraught, so I’m doing my best to be strong for them. I can’t sleep anymore after seeing the suicide selfie you took on your phone, and I don’t think I’ll ever get that image out of my mind. I’ll be saying your eulogy next week, and I just pray that I do you justice. I wonder if you are looking down on us and seeing what this has done. Did you know how much we loved you? I can’t imagine the despair you were in, but why didn’t you talk to me. I miss you and still can’t believe this is real.

Missing you brother

Today May 28,4 yrs ago you left us without a goodbye.I keep replaying in my mind the last time I saw you one day prior.You seemed fine,though that wasn’t so.And did you know when you drove away the next day,you’d never come home again.And our lives would be shattered.My brother,your pain has ended,but ours have begun 4 yrs ago and to this day and FOREVER.It’s been 4 yrs now and I’m still in denial,even as I write this I cannot acknowledge that this is what happened.I go to the lake often where you were found and just stare into the water,waiting for an answer.My mind can’t accept,did you walk into the lake or swam and let yourself drown,this I can’t imagine.My regret and guilt is I couldn’t save you from your troubles and for this I am sorry,I hope you can forgive me as I can’t forgive myself.If I knew I wouldn’t ever see you again,I would’ve kissed you,hugged you tight and most importantly told you I loved you.Life is not fair that you aren’t here to share our lives with you.My tears are for my love for you.I LOVE YOU FOR ETERNITY AND MISS YOU BEYOND WORDS CAN SAY.
your sister