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Wednesday, August 18, 2004
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SOMETIMES LIFE 'AINT FAIR
I don't know how many of you have actually followed the links that I've posted here or on the side, but these are some that you might want to.
I had never heard of Mark O'Brien before last week. Unfortunately, the first time that I had ever heard of him was the announcement of his death on A Small Victory. That link lead me to Seven Inches of Sense that gave me a fuller sense of Mr. O'Brien. Mr. O'Brien, despite what I would imagine to be incomperable tragedy, the murder of his son, appeared not have let the bitterness of his loss destroy him. From what I have read, while searching for the killers of his son, he also maintained his humor and lust for life. When he was killed, earlier this month, he was returning from a wilderness trip in northern Ontario.
Stories like this leave me feeling very conflicted and incredibly sad. Both Mark and Burke O'Brien had everything to live for. They were both denied that chance. Yet, there are innummerable people who have nothing left, people who would ache for the chance to trade places with either of them. Yet, things never seem to work out that way, do they?
Burke O'Brien was a good looking kid. He appeared to have a lot that he could offer the world. His father never seemed to lose his appreciation for life, yet he lost his before he could avenge that of his son.
I don't have children. I probably never will. But, I have been involved with women who do and regardless of how those relationships ended, I know that I would do anything possible to bring some measure of peace to those mothers if anything ever happened to their kids.
I know this is a long shot. The probability that someone like me can something for the Burke family is slim. But I can't discount the possibility that there is a chance. If any of my readers live in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and know anything about the events of January 12, 2003, please contact the New York Police Department, if only anonymously. There's no reason for two deaths to be mourned without closure.
And maybe the rest of you can visit this site and perhaps give a few bucks in the name of Mark and Burke O'Brien. It might accomplish something, it might not. But I'm pretty sure that it would make the family of two lost souls feel a lot better in a very trying time.
Why am I posting this? I'm not entirely sure. It seems like a decent thing to do. Besides, anyone with friends like Michele and Joan seem worthy of it. Hard to say, but it's a tough reminder that people out there did have a harder week than I did.
Having said that, I'll resume being a dick in due course.
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