On, Thursday, February 15, 2007 my life changed forever. My middle brother Christopher Andrew Doughty, who was just eighteen years old was in an accident at his work and passed away.
Everything I had ever believed in and all the hopes I had for the future were all changed. I was sad. There is no way to describe the feeling that is inside of your heart. I was so scared and did not really understand what this would mean in my life. My mother was not doing good. My brother had lived in Humble, Tx while he was young with his father and would visit with us all the time. In September 2006 he had moved to San Antonio to be with us. Just the day before was Valentines Day and my older brother’s twenty second birthday and we were all together that night at my Aunt’s house. So I did at least get to hug him and say goodbye. We had to travel to Houston for the funeral. I spoke at the funeral three times. I asked everyone in the funeral home to stand-up and say “Thunderstruck” on the count of three. My brother would always bang his hands on the steering wheel. At the graveside I stared at the flowers and thought of this poem “Chris’s life was like a flower you begin as a seed and grow into a flower, once the flower dies the flower spreads seeds an those seeds are like love. My family was very proud of me for honoring my brother. He would come over every Sunday for my Mom to do his laundry and he would play with me. We always played basketball and he would try to teach me to skateboard. These months have been very hard for my family. My Mom was sick a lot and it was hard for her to help me. She is doing better now. I know she will always seem different then she was when Chris was with us. When something like this happens it is very hard to understand. My Mom and I found a good church and we go every Sunday and on Wednesday it helps us to feel better. I have learned that I will be with my brother again in Heaven and that he is with me always. I don’t feel the same way I did before this happened it makes you think about how important the way you live your life is. I want to be nice to people and to help people. I want to live a life that will honor my brother and he will be as proud of me as I am of him.
