Remembering My Brother, George

Today would have been my brother's 54th birthday.  It's so strange to think of him as a middle aged man.  He would probably be mostly gray, balding, and stocky built.  His gray-blue eyes would still sparkle and I'm sure he would still have the same rowdy laugh. 

On May 3 we will mark the 34th anniversary of his death.  He was killed by a drunk driver 3 days after his 19th birthday.  He and three friends had gone to celebrate another friend's birthday and on the way home a drunk ran a red light, slammed into the car he was in killing the 17 year old boy, Andy, in the front passenger seat and critically injuring my brother who was in the back seat.  George died the following day from sever internal injuries.  Robert, the driver of the car, was only slightly injured (Thank you, God), but carried a lot of guilt because the boys had argued about which way to go home and they had gone the way he had chosen. 

Robert got counseling and support from our family, his family and realized that it was in no way his fault.  He has healed, married and is living somewhere in Oregon with his family.

Andy was an only child.  His parents were so devastated.  His parents went to the hospital that night and left with only his class ring, wallet, and a broken heart.  He was to have graduated from high school in 6 weeks but that dream and a life time of others were never to be realized.

George was the third of four children and the first son.  A free spirit, surfer, friend to everyone, he was voted Most Popular Boy in his Senior Class.  He held a very low draft number and knew that he would most likely be drafted within the year and would probably end up going to Viet Nam.  As a peace loving guy, he hated the idea but he was willing to face up to his obligation and serve his country.  He had just accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior and was beginning a quest to know Him better.

His death broke our hearts.  My dad, mom, sister, brother and I were in such a state of shock for months after.  It takes a long time for the realization to settle in when someone is there one minute and gone the next.  The first year or so, ANGER was the main emotion.  How could someone be so irresponsible as to drive under the influence and to add insult to injury, it was not even a felony at that time to drive drunk.

The drunkard responsible for killing my brother and Andy left the state to avoid prosecution.  This made it so hard on us to know that he was probably never going to have to face up to what he had done.  I had day dreams about finding him and doing him great bodily harm.  I thought about hiring a private investigator to find him but I never did.

Over the next 20 years, all of us healed our broken hearts.  We did the work, cried the tears, walked through all of the emotions and healed.  It didn't take 20 years to do that but it was quite awhile.  The reason I mentioned the 20 years was that 20 years after George's death, the drunkard was arrested in Colorado for drunk driving.  Well, well, well.  He plead guilty and was headed back to court for sentencing.  The Colorado probation department actually did a good job in checking this guy out before recommending a sentence to the trail judge.  In the background check, they found an outstanding warrant from Orange County California for the drunkard's arrest for fleeing prosecution on a drunk driving case.  The Colorado probation officer called the Orange County D.A. and asked if they still wanted this guy.  The D.A. made calls to the police officers who were on the scene and both said they remembered it like it was yesterday.  He called a few other witnesses and they all said they were willing to testify.  He called Colorado back and told them, "Yes, we want him back here."

So, when the drunkard went to court for sentencing on his drunk driving charge, he was given a year in jail in Colorado and then told, "But, before you do that year, you have to go back to Orange County, California and stand trial for a drunk driving manslaughter charge that there is an outstanding warrant on you for."   I guess he just about had a heart attack.  LOL  He didn't see that coming.  He thought he was out of the woods and the statute of limitations had run out.  It would have except that he had been to court, charges had been filed, a court date had been set before he fled.  Whoops.....

Anyway, to make a long story longer....LOL.......he was brought back to CA where he sat in jail for 10 months before his trial date came up.  Because in 1972 it wasn't a felony, the DA had to do some hard work to find a charge that carried a felony conviction to stick him with.  He plead guilty and got credit for time served.  He was then sent back to Colorado where he had to his year there.    The judge told him if he had another drunk driving offense he would do 5 - 10 years.  I don't want to see anyone else get hurt but I would love to see him get picked up again and put away for 10 long ones.

I miss my brother.  He was a great guy.  Funny, smart, athletic, and loving.  We talk about him a lot to keep his memory alive within our family.  If anyone else is going through this, please know that there is hope for healing.  There will always be a hole in your heart and your family that nothing will fill up but you will find joy, laughter, and hope again.