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Forum PointsA Tragic Love Story
In
a relatively short period of time, Tom had experienced some fundamental
changes in his life. Three years earlier he had so much to be thankful
for. Sarah, his wife of 25 years, was an exceptional woman whom he
adored. His two talented daughters, born a year apart, were enrolled in
prestigious universities. He had excellent income from his work as an
attorney, and he was in good health.
It all began with a headache, severe muscle pain, and chills which
appeared to be a case of the flu. After the symptoms had persisted for
several weeks, Tom went to a medical specialist who diagnosed the
problem as a rare immune disorder for which there was no treatment and
significant improvement was unlikely.
Tom found it difficult to inform his law partners that he would be
leaving the practice, but the severity of the symptoms left him no
alternative. They were understanding and guaranteed him that he would
continue to receive income from the firm. Tom was relieved that the
illness would not result in financial problems. The impact it had on
the rest of his life was very serious. The constant pain and the fact
that he could no longer live the active life that he had become
accustomed to left him in a state of deep despair.
Sarah felt a sense of frustration when she was unable to help Tom come
to terms with his illness. In the winter following the diagnosis, she
suggested to Tom that it would be good for them to get away and spend
some time in Florida. She arranged to rent a beach house for a month.
Tom had been skeptical about the trip, but after just a few days in the
warm, Florida sunshine Sarah noticed that his mood had improved. Before
the end of the month Tom was so much better that Sarah decided a
permanent move to Florida was something to consider. Working with a
realtor she found a very nice house for sale. It took some time before
she was able to convince Tom that they should buy it. Three months
later they were settled in their new home.
The results of the change turned out to be better than Sarah could have
imagined. At her insistence, Tom became involved in activities he could
enjoy. He took regular walks on the beach and occasionally did some
fishing. He seemed to regain some of his former enthusiasm for life.
There were setbacks, but with Sarah�s support and encouragement he was
able to get through the difficult times. It was a little over a year
after the move when Sarah was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She
died eight months later.
Tom decided that without Sarah�s love life was utterly meaningless.
After living in a state of despair for several months, he decided to
end his misery by committing suicide. He considered the usual methods,
a gunshot, poison, hanging, and carbon monoxide. These were
unacceptable because his daughters would know that he took his own
life. A car accident was a possibility, but he was concerned that it
might not result in a fatal injury.
One day, it occurred to Tom that there was a bridge over the
Intracoastal Waterway on a quiet country road. He went to the bridge
and concluded that there was no way a person falling from it could
survive. He reasoned that a motorist who was forced to stop on the
bridge with car trouble might accidentally fall over the low concrete
barrier at the edge of the road.
By the time he had arrived back as this house, Tom had developed what
he judged to be a fool proof plan and began making preparations. He
punctured a tire on his SUV by driving over a nail and replaced it with
the spare. He put the flat tire in the back of the
SUV along with his fishing tackle, a travel bag containing clothes
suitable for spending a few days away from home, a tooth brush and a
razor. Tom planned to go to the bridge early on Sunday morning when
there would be little traffic and park at a spot directly over a road
that bordered the Intracoastal Waterway. He would jack up the SUV and
put the flat tire on the pavement. When a body was found below the
bridge it would appear that the driver had fallen while changing a
tire.
On Saturday Tom called his daughters and told them he would be leaving
the following morning to spend a few days with a friend. They were
going to do some fishing on his new boat. He said he had just finished
putting his fishing tackle and a travel bag in the SUV.
Tom arrived at the bridge at dawn. He got out of the SUV and was about
to remove the flat tire when he noticed what a beautiful morning it
was. It reminded him of how Sarah enjoyed seeing the sunrise. She said
it was more beautiful than the sunset because it came at the beginning
of the day rather than the end. That brought to mind the way she had
clung to life while suffering so much in the last days before she died.
Now he was planning to end his own life voluntarily. Sarah would have
been shocked and deeply disappointed that he would consider such a
thing. At that moment, Tom came to the realization that even though
Sarah was no longer with him, her love continued to be a basic part of
his life. Then he thought about his daughters having to deal with his
death so soon after loosing their mother.
Tom walked over to the concrete barrier and looked down at the spot
where he would have landed after jumping. He felt he had just awakened
from a nightmare and wondered what had possessed him when he planned to
commit suicide. It was a time of rebirth. He was thankful to be alive.
Tom�s thoughts were interrupted when a rusty pickup truck pulled up
pulled up behind the SUV. He thought it was nice that someone would
stop to help a motorist with a problem. The driver walked over to Tom
swinging a length of heavy iron pipe he had taken out of the back of
the pickup and told him to hand over his credit cards and money. Tom
hesitated and then reached for the cell phone on his belt. The driver
responded by hitting Tom with the pipe. The force of the blow knocked
him back and he ended up with the upper part of his body hanging over
the edge of the concrete barrier. He made a desperate, but
unsuccessful, attempt to keep from falling. Before leaving the scene,
the driver of the pickup took the fishing tackle and travel bag out of
the SUV.
A man fishing on the Intracoastal Waterway discovered a body and called
the Sheriff�s Department. As soon as an identification was made the
sheriff went to Tom�s house. When he found no one there he talked with
a neighbor and learned that Tom lived alone and had two daughters, Beth
and Amy, who visited him regularly.
Back at the Department the sheriff was able to get the phone numbers of
the daughters from his from Tom�s cell phone. He called Beth first and
reported what had happened. She wanted to be the one to tell her sister.
Beth and Amy arrived at the sheriff�s office late the next afternoon
emotionally and physically exhausted. The sheriff wanted to avoid
dealing with questions. He said, �I�m very sorry about your loss. I can
imagine what a difficult time it is for you. Your father�s body is in a
funeral home just a short distance from here. Turn left when you leave
the parking lot. It�s on the corner at the first traffic light.�
�Over the phone you only told us that Dad died from a fall,� Beth said. �We would like to know more details.�
�Your father was found under a bridge over the intracoastal waterway. His SUV was parked at the spot from where he had fallen.�
�That sounds like a very unusual accident. Do you know how happened?� Beth asked.
The sheriff could see no way to soften the blow. �Your father�s death had been recorded as a suicide.�
Beth responded immediately. �That couldn�t be. Dad would never take his
own life.� �Of course not,� Amy said. �The day before he died Dad
called and told us he was leaving in the morning to spend some time
with a friend and do some fishing. He said he had already put his
fishing tackle and a travel bag in the SUV.�
�The only thing we found in the SUV was a flat tire that your father
had not gotten around to having repaired. Was there any indication that
he had been depressed lately?�
The sisters looked at each other and then Beth said, �Our mother died a
few months ago of cancer. She suffered a great deal. It was devastating
for Dad. He and Mom were very close.�
�Did your father have any health problems?�
Beth seemed to fighting back the tears. Amy answered. �Several years
ago Dad became very sick and had to stop working. He never fully
recovered.�
After a long pause Amy said, �I guess that�s all you can tell us. We better go to the funeral home.�
The sheriff nodded. �Let me know if I can help in any way. You know where you can reach me.�
�We appreciate that very much,� Amy said as they got up to leave. Beth managed to nod in agreement. She had begun to cry.
Shortly after the sisters left a deputy stopped at the door of the
Sheriff�s office. �I met two girls leaving the building. They looked
like they were pretty upset. Relatives of the suicide?
�Daughters. And you were right about them being upset. Nice girls that
any normal father would be proud of. Theirs was a selfish, cowardly
bastard. He didn�t think about them when he decided to commit suicide.
What makes it even worse is that their mother died recently. At least
he could have come up with a plan that made it look like an accident.�
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