Was it really 24 years ago yesterday? The phone call is ingrained in my memory like
it was only twenty-four MINUTES ago.
Sunday morning, January 25, 1987, the phone rang as I was sleeping at
our on-base housing unit in Yokosuka, Japan.
I awoke, and answered quickly – the man on the other end telling me that
I needed to come home. Completely
disarmed, and wondering why my Mom wasn’t calling me, I assumed that something
was wrong with my Mom. “Where’s Mom?”, I
asked, suspiciously.
“Molly has committed suicide. You need to come home.”
I dropped the phone and screamed – my dog, Kuma, ran away
from me. I’m not sure how much time
passed, but I remember hearing my Mother’s voice on the phone screaming… “Kelly! Kelly!”
I finally picked up the phone and my completely devastated Mom confirmed
to me that my little sister, Molly, was indeed, dead. The very first traumatic experience in my
life, and I was worlds away from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. My husband at the time was on deployment on a
US Aircraft Carrier, and I was worlds away.
It took the Red Cross (thank God for the Red Cross)
twenty-four hours to coordinate my transportation home. Twenty-four hours that I was unable to
sleep. Twenty-four hours in which I did
not know “how” Molly completed suicide. Twenty-four
hours for the rest of my family to coordinate traveling back to Pensacola,
Florida, where Molly would be buried. Twenty-four
of the most disturbing hours of my life.
In honor of Molly, 02/07/72 – 01/25/87, I post her own
writing….
CHOICES
Look
into the forest of problems
The
tree of sadness, the path of death
All
troubles begin here
As
enveloped, we gasp for a breath
All life seems to end as
one enters here
Everything is troublesome
A place that has no cheer
Then turn your back
And glance at the lake of
hope
The wave of laughter
The lily pad of love
With which do you wish to
cope?
Swimming in glory
You dangle in the sun
Until problems never
present
Transform to one
Which way will you turn?
Pleasure or Plead?
Love and Laughter?
Or will your heart bleed?
by Molly Ann DeMarchis
Suicide is NOT the answer. It is a permanent solution to a TEMPORARY PROBLEM. Make the right choice. Molly chose to shoot herself in the heart with a .357... Our Mother found her. It forever changed our family.
