Open Letter

First and foremost, I would like to thank to truly caring and dependable people who have been here for my family and I since my brother passed. We appreciate you more than words can say and love you with all our hearts. The following message is not intended for you.

My brother has been gone for a month now. Our family struggles every day to keep our heads above water emotionally and be there for each other. The least helpful thing toward that end is chatterbox gossip hounds spreading conjectures and lies throughout our community. DO NOT assume you know how he died, since even those closest to him do not know yet. The rumors have ranged from the average and mundane to the extreme and beyond belief. Go take a long look in the mirror, then look around at the people you love. If today was your time to go, are you sure that the negative assumptions couldn't be made about you and spread to the people left grieving. If you lost someone you loved and out of nowhere you heard something that cut you like a knife, would you not also be outraged? In life, my brother was a private person. You may have known something about him, but you did not know him unless he wanted you to know him. STOP HURTING HIM AND US. In the end, it will make no difference the cause, because the result is the same. He is gone. We miss him. There is a hole where he used to be and I refuse to have it filled with hate mongers and petty people. Find a new way to entertain yourselves. Learn to read, volunteer with the homeless, help a child. Put something positive back into the world. You'd be surprised at how much good it will do you.