On July 27th at 10:14AM my parents and I watched my brother take his last breath @ the age of 46 years. He was essentially brain dead except for the most primitive functions that kept his heart beating, until we had to put an end to it. It's a process I'll never forget.
He went out in a way that pretty much defines his life. Out drinking with his motorcycle club buddies, he had about 4-5 beers before heading out to the next watering hole. On the way to the next bar, he decided to show his friends how fast is 2008 Buell 1125R was and could not stop before colliding with one of his fellow riders. The bikes were somewhat damaged but not terribly, the impact was relatively low speed (~25MPH)...he almost stopped. Nobody else was hurt, thank god, but he broke a scapula, 5 ribs and a collar bone. That would have been fine but he also fell off and hit his half helmet/head on the ground which caused severe trauma to his brain.
It was a long hard week filled with hope early on and then despair. His finances were a mess and he ended up leaving basically nothing except his life insurance policy to his two sons, 20 & 23, who he never really was a father to, IMO. This left my parents to take care of his estate and try to get back the $20K they had loaned to him over the years even though he had a good paying UAW job. He could never pay back the loans but he always had $ for motorcycle toys (the Buell, a VTX1800C, a V65 Magna, and a V-Max). My parents were stupid for 'loaning' him anything but he was a stupid, selfish...asshole. That's how he always was to his family. But his motorcycle 'brothers' talked about him like he was the second coming or something. What a double life.
Things are almost wrapped up now. I'm over it, for sure. But I feel better after sharing it with you guys.
He went out in a way that pretty much defines his life. Out drinking with his motorcycle club buddies, he had about 4-5 beers before heading out to the next watering hole. On the way to the next bar, he decided to show his friends how fast is 2008 Buell 1125R was and could not stop before colliding with one of his fellow riders. The bikes were somewhat damaged but not terribly, the impact was relatively low speed (~25MPH)...he almost stopped. Nobody else was hurt, thank god, but he broke a scapula, 5 ribs and a collar bone. That would have been fine but he also fell off and hit his half helmet/head on the ground which caused severe trauma to his brain.
It was a long hard week filled with hope early on and then despair. His finances were a mess and he ended up leaving basically nothing except his life insurance policy to his two sons, 20 & 23, who he never really was a father to, IMO. This left my parents to take care of his estate and try to get back the $20K they had loaned to him over the years even though he had a good paying UAW job. He could never pay back the loans but he always had $ for motorcycle toys (the Buell, a VTX1800C, a V65 Magna, and a V-Max). My parents were stupid for 'loaning' him anything but he was a stupid, selfish...asshole. That's how he always was to his family. But his motorcycle 'brothers' talked about him like he was the second coming or something. What a double life.
Things are almost wrapped up now. I'm over it, for sure. But I feel better after sharing it with you guys.
