"Live each day," a cliche I know, and yet now it hits home more than ever. My sister phoned me yesterday, and when I saw it was her, I fully expected to hear my almost 94-year-old mother had fallen again. Instead she said, "Robin, Michael is dead". "Michael, you mean my nephew Michael?" My brother and I haven't spoken in eight years, since my father's passing, and the last time I saw Michael he was a little boy. At 31 he literally drank himself to death.
I knew Michael had demons. He joined the Army as a medic soon after graduating high school, and did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He had trouble adjusting to civilian life and I heard from my sister he may re-enlist. What I didn't know until my phone conversation, was that Michael was a severe alcoholic.
Apparently my brother had been trying for weeks to get him into an Army rehab facility but each time he went into rehab the loss of alcohol on his system would trigger seizures. Michael was scheduled to go back into a rehab facility in mid-August (couldn't get into one before then through the Army). That would be too late. Michael was found yesterday morning sitting on the couch dead.
Unfortunately Michael's situation is not unusual. Many men and women return from military service broken, battered and without hope. In Salem today, at the Maritime celebrations, many veterans are being honored. Whatever your thoughts are on military service, remember those giving their lives in battle on the field and at home.
I knew Michael had demons. He joined the Army as a medic soon after graduating high school, and did two tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He had trouble adjusting to civilian life and I heard from my sister he may re-enlist. What I didn't know until my phone conversation, was that Michael was a severe alcoholic.
Apparently my brother had been trying for weeks to get him into an Army rehab facility but each time he went into rehab the loss of alcohol on his system would trigger seizures. Michael was scheduled to go back into a rehab facility in mid-August (couldn't get into one before then through the Army). That would be too late. Michael was found yesterday morning sitting on the couch dead.
Unfortunately Michael's situation is not unusual. Many men and women return from military service broken, battered and without hope. In Salem today, at the Maritime celebrations, many veterans are being honored. Whatever your thoughts are on military service, remember those giving their lives in battle on the field and at home.
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