I
remember how much fun it was playing Nintendo with my big brother, Jason. He
knew all the secret codes to all the games and could get really far in the game.
We used to wrestle on the bed. He’d pick me up and toss me onto the bed. My
mom was always afraid that I was going to get hurt, but Jason made sure that I
never did. I also remember pretending to be asleep when I was really waiting for
him to come home so we could watch “Late Night with Jay Leno” together. My
mom didn’t know we were doing this, because I was supposed to be sleeping, so
Jason always reminded me to be really quiet.
I
remember when Jason started to work at McDonald’s in Rockwall. Before that, he
had a paper route that we all helped him with. I remember riding around in my
mom’s minivan while my brother, sister, and mom threw papers. I was too little
to throw papers, and most of the time I just fell asleep. Jason also watched me
during the summer school vacation while my mom worked. It was so cool to hang
out with my big brother. I remember how much he loved the TV game show
“Jeopardy”. We watched it everyday during the summer. It amazed me how much
he knew. He would answer all the questions and most of the time he’d get them
right
I
remember when Jason got his driver’s license and started to work. After that
he bought his first car and started to date. My big brother was growing up. The
first real girlfriend he had was Lenda. She was pretty nice. When he wasn’t
working he was hanging out with her or his best friend John. Although he was
busy doing other things now and we didn’t have as much time together as
before, he still made time for me, and let me know how much he loved me.
Jason
and I had a lot in common. He had been in the Boy Scouts. I too have been in the
Boy Scouts. He had played soccer, basketball, and football. I like soccer and
basketball and plan to go to soccer camp this summer so I can play this fall. My
brother had been in honor classes at school, and I am in honor classes.
There’s no one else I’d rather be more like than him. He was a great role
model.
I will never forget the day, April 2, 1999 (Good Friday). My
parents were divorced and I was visiting my dad for the Easter weekend when we
got a call that we needed to get to the hospital immediately.
My brother had been in a car accident. All that we knew was that he was
being Care-Flighted to Parkland Hospital and that he was in a coma. I didn’t
really know much about anything else that was going on. Our entire family and
lots of close friends came to the hospital, along with lots of Jason’s friends
and co-workers. They continued to come everyday. We would talk to him, but he
didn’t respond. My brother had massive brain injuries.
He had hit a cow in the road while on his way to work. After that his car
left the road, hit a parked car and then the porch of a house. The doctor said
he had only a five percent chance of making it, two days later that was
down-graded to a two percent chance, and on April 6, 1999, his nineteenth
birthday, my brother was declared “brain dead” and went to Heaven to be with
God.
Jason
was nine years old when I was born, and I was only nine years old when he died.
I never believed that my brother would die, but he did.
Earlier that year, he had told my mom that he wanted to be an organ donor
if anything should ever happen to him to put him in this position. My mother
gave them permission to harvest his organs because she knew this was his wish.
Some very special people are living today because of my brother’s foresight
and unselfishness. I miss him very much and think about him all the time.
I do know how blessed I am to have had such a wonderful brother and
friend although our time together was all too
brief. I know Jason is watching over me from Heaven all the time, and someday I
am going to see him again there
