So last Saturday, my sister's sister-in-law, Tiffany (29) was in a car accident. She and her three year old daughter Nora, died at the scene. The five year old son Marshall, is in critical condition, in a medically induced coma in Minneapolis. Last night, Michelle and I made the drive to the celebration of life for Tiffany and Nora, which was terrible. Not that it was badly done, but watching a mother, who I knew and a baby girl who had played with Ben be memorialized fucking killed me and my wife.
Tonight as I'm leaving work at midnight, Rodney, my brother in law texts me and asks me for a favor. He wants me to call him and read a letter that his brother Adam (Tiffany's husband, Nora and Marshall's dad) had received from a friend (this person was sitting with Marshall as the rest of us were at the wake.) out loud to him. It goes as follows:
"I spend the day sitting here with the strongest little boy I know, Super Marshall! While I'm here watching him be a real life version of the heroes he admires so much, my thoughts drift to the harsh reality of the tradgedy that has occured.
No matter how fast his bodily injuries heal, this pain will last forever. No burden a father or son can carry alone. No matter if from krypton or earth, super soldiers nor men of Iron can't handle this sort of heartbreak alone.
I ask all of those that have been touched by the two beautiful souls we are celebrating the life of today, to carry on the abundant loving spirit that they both have shared with us so freely. To be a hero by sharing a kind word, by listening to a friend that needs an ear, by giving a hug even if your not sure it's needed, just because you can. To do this is to let them live in us all. Somehow I think they would both love that.
With that, I say goodbye to Nora Hutton and Tiffany J. Hostetler. I will be a better person for just knowing you both, our time was too short. I will love deeper, laugh louder, and be more kind to my core. I will be every bit of a hero I can possibly be for Super Marshall, Adam Hutton, and all those devastated by this terrible accident.
It's ok to fight some battles alone, for others you assemble a team. Huttons, Hostetlers, and friends, together we can conquer this. We push on with heavy hearts, eyes full of tears, and enough strength to wrestle the hulk. I love you all."
We spent the next hour, he at home, me sitting in my chef's blacks in the parking lot, talking about family, fatherhood, being a brother and bawling.
I just thought, that since Marshall is a little geek in training, you guys might like to see the way our dumb little shared hobby can effect people in real ways, even when life seems darker than you can possibly believe.
