It was June 14th, 2022 at 8:30pm give or take a few life-altering minutes.
A few days earlier, I was at my parent’s house. They live about 30 minutes away, and my mom had been watching my oldest son, TJ, that day while I was at work, so I was there to pick him up. My sister, Margaret, was also there, as well as my brother, William. Michael, our other brother, showed up around the same time I got there. It was the first time in a long time that all four of us siblings were under the same roof, which I knew made my parents so unbelievably happy. I remember thinking that I should ask my mom if she felt like she was in a dream (a good one) having all of her four children there at the same house, but for some reason I didn’t. Little did I know how drastically our lives were about to change.
Fast forward to the 14th. I had been at work all day and arrived home around 7:30ish in the evening. My husband, Thomas, was out of town for business, and my sister had been watching my 3-year-old son, Thomas Jr. (TJ). We talked briefly, and Margaret left to go back to her house.
I had just gotten TJ ready for bed, and he was laying in the bed next to me watching TV. He would usually sleep in my bed when he was younger and my husband was out of town. My younger son had not been born yet, so it was just the two of us at home. My phone rang, and I looked down to see who would be calling me so late. Margaret? Why would she be calling me? She must have forgotten to tell me something about TJ.
“Hey! What’s up?” I said.
“Heyyyy….can you talk for a second?” Margaret said on the other end.
My heart sank and I involuntarily fell onto the bed to brace myself for what was coming next. I knew right away something was wrong. What could it be? Oh no. It’s Mom. She had a heart attack. Or Dad. Someone had a heart attack. Or cancer. God, please let everyone be okay. My mind was racing and automatically thought the worst.
“Yeah…” I said hesitantly. “What’s wrong? Is everyone okay?” Please, God, please let everyone be okay.
“Everyone’s fine. I mean…well…yes. Yes. Everyone’s fine.” she said.
“Okay…so what’s going on?” I said. Something obviously was wrong. But what was it? Just tell me! I thought. I need to know!
“Well…it’s William.”
