My biological father (Kevin) shot his father and killed him when he was 12.
His father was a violent drunk who would beat his wife and children often. This was in central Tennessee many years ago and unless your male family members basically come and kick your husbands ass no one is going to step in. In addition, my uncle (my father’s brother, Tim) was homosexual. Of course as a boy he did not know this, but he still had effeminate behavior and his violent drunk of a redneck father HATED it.
One day their father picked up a knife and went after Tim. His own son. It wasn't enough to beat his wife and kids, now he was going to take it to a whole new level. He was literally going to kill his son in a drunken rage.
My father grabbed a pistol and shot his father in the heart, killing him instantly. At 12 years old.
My grandmother remarried, a wonderful man who was extraordinarily loving and cared for her and her children like her former husband never could have.
At 26 years old, my father was shot and killed. He'd become involved in drug trafficking, and was killed over $40,000 (in 1987). I tell myself that he never had much of a chance, his childhood was simply too fucked up to lead a “normal” life after.
At 42, Tim died of a heart attack. He did, in fact, lead a very normal life. He was a server at a very high end private club in Huntsville, Alabama, and by all accounts made incredibly good money. He also proves that the excuses I make for my biological father’s mistakes simply won't cut it. I am a father, and I would NEVER risk leaving my kids alone in this world if I could help it. I was so young (less than three months old) I don't even have any memories of him.
My mother remarried when I was three, and Wes adopted me. He raised me as his own, along with his biological children, my brother and sister.
I am now 29. I have outlived the life span of my own father. My grandmother is still alive, and in a tremendous display of just how unfair life is this sweet, loving woman outlived both her children. She had a very hard life until she met her current husband, and then the universe conspired to take away both of her children. She is a devout Christian and her continued faith in the face of such experiences is mind-boggling for me. I myself lost faith when I was a teenager.
I was raised by two amazing people. However, my family history has some very deep, dark crevaces in which skeletons are still hidden.
Read other answers by Jeremy Gordon on Quora:
- What is the most selfish act you have ever witnessed?
- If you could select 5 files to store forever, what would these files be?
- How would you weigh the US contribution to World War II to that of the British and Soviets?
from Quora http://ift.tt/2egbxLJ
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