If tears could build a stairway
And memories a lane
We would walk all the way to Heaven
To bring you home again
No farewell words were spoken
No time to say goodbye
You were gone before we knew it
And only God knows why
Our hearts ache in sadness
And secret tears still flow
What is meant to lose you
No one will ever know.
~Unknown.~
Tommy, along with his sister, was
raised by his widowed mother and grandmother.
He was a good child who loved his family.
It was a close knit family consisting also of 2 aunts and 9 cousins,
as well as many great aunts and uncles and their families,
which grew in numbers over the years.
He always had a special love of younger children and the elderly.
This love was shown daily in his kindness to them.
He was always "doing" for the elderly and as a young man coached little league
football.
He was always loved by children.
As an adult, he was a dedicated to his job and his greatest love
was shown for his grandmother and his daughter, born in 1986.
The illness that eventually lead to
his death began in his teen years,
over the next 20 something years it consumed him
and caused unbearable pain for his family.
Tommy was addicted to cocaine.
Over the years cocaine changed him
into a man isolated from his extended family,
a man who still had so much love in him, but unable to give it, except to his immediate
family.
He became a man who worked hard and spent his paycheck in a few hours,
leaving him to depend on his family for support.
He was in a constant battle.
He wanted to quit and tried many times.
He knew he was hurting his family and that tortured him.
But in the struggle, cocaine always won.
In the early months of 1999 he began
dating a woman he had known
earlier in his life. His daughter loved her too and they planned to become
a family. Him and his girlfriend moved to another state, only 2 hours
from home. He was attempting once again to get his life straight.
His daughter stayed behind with his sister
with plans for her to join them when the time was right.
Tommy came home to to take his
daughter to a local fair on the night of Oct. 22, 1999.
It was late when they returned so he decide to spend the night at his sisters
and return home the following day.
He spent time talking with his sister and nephew.
They watched a movie and enjoyed their time together.
Then the cocaine that had controlled
him for so many years took over,
one last time.
He borrowed $20 and said he was leaving but would return soon.
Ten minutes later he was dead--murdered by a drug dealer
who told people at the scene he did it
because Tommy was "messing with his head."
He said Tommy owed him $8.
After 20 years, the battle is over.
Cocaine won, but Tommy is at peace.
I don't know why drugs consume some
while others are able to "try" them without becoming addicted.
I don't know why some addicted to drugs become criminals
and some only allow it to harm themselves and their families.
I do know as long as illegal drugs
are sold
families will live in torment and crime will run rapid on our streets.
Drug Awareness must be promoted.
Our children must learn what drugs can do.
Please take Tommy's banner and link to this page.
