Here is the article: John
He was using a blowtorch, and a 55 barrel drum next to him had flammable material in it. The drum exploded, ripping the top off. Apparently it hit him in the head, and he was dead within 30 minutes. I am very grateful that he did not suffer for long.
We were not close. In fact, as a child, I was terrorized by him. Not just teased, I mean terrorized. I was physically afraid of him from early childhood through high school. He was always a 'difficult' child - today maybe you would say 'spirited' - I don't know. He was not so much physically abusive as emotionally abusive. Things like pinning me to the floor and holding me down until I stopped struggling and then spitting in my face. He has always been strung out on drugs, and never kicked the habit. He was even in jail for a short time for possession.
As an adult I have gone through lots of therapy to sort all that out, including my anger at my parents for not protecting me from my brother. All that being said, I really have worked through almost all of that, and I had long ago come to a peaceful place with it. I have forgiven my brother and my parents. And so it is that I am feeling lots of emotions over his death - everything from grief, to quilt, and even relief. Sometimes I just don't feel anything. It is all just so weird.
Not much else to say about it right now, but I wanted to get this out. Thanks for listening.
He was using a blowtorch, and a 55 barrel drum next to him had flammable material in it. The drum exploded, ripping the top off. Apparently it hit him in the head, and he was dead within 30 minutes. I am very grateful that he did not suffer for long.
We were not close. In fact, as a child, I was terrorized by him. Not just teased, I mean terrorized. I was physically afraid of him from early childhood through high school. He was always a 'difficult' child - today maybe you would say 'spirited' - I don't know. He was not so much physically abusive as emotionally abusive. Things like pinning me to the floor and holding me down until I stopped struggling and then spitting in my face. He has always been strung out on drugs, and never kicked the habit. He was even in jail for a short time for possession.
As an adult I have gone through lots of therapy to sort all that out, including my anger at my parents for not protecting me from my brother. All that being said, I really have worked through almost all of that, and I had long ago come to a peaceful place with it. I have forgiven my brother and my parents. And so it is that I am feeling lots of emotions over his death - everything from grief, to quilt, and even relief. Sometimes I just don't feel anything. It is all just so weird.
Not much else to say about it right now, but I wanted to get this out. Thanks for listening.
