Sandy Supposes....

Eureka

PROMPT November 19th

We've all had one or several epiphanies in our lives. Tonight, write about a moment in your life that changed the way you view the world.

         

         

         

         

         

         A few months after I was married, I had an epiphany. An incident opened my eyes to an ugly world I'd not been privy to before that time. My innocence, my naivety disappeared. The shroud, the veil, whatever it was had been torn from my eyes and I could no longer view someone as I once had.

         One evening while hubby and I were out our home was burgled. We returned to find a kitchen window forced open and a drawer rifled. In that drawer I'd placed a large sum of cash the previous night. A family member had repaid a loan during a supper party. I remember feeling angry. That sum had been earmarked for my tuition and now it was gone. How could I replace it?

         Of course we notified the local police force and filed a report. When the investigating officer asked if we suspected anyone I said no while my spouse named a culprit, my only brother. I glared at him for daring to suggest such a horrid thought, but I could not argue with his logic.

         Mark had been present when I'd been handed the cash. That had been the one and only time he'd visited us and thus knew our whereabouts. Nothing else had been taken, or ransacked during the robbery. The clincher? What thief took the time to carefully move and reposition the ceramic knick-knacks on the kitchen window sill? Wouldn't a theft entail more smash and grab? Didn't thefts require a certain amount of haste? In and out? Who else knew of our plans?

          I could not confront my brother, he vanished. Eventually, he turned up in custody, jailed for other thefts. Some small comfort I was not his sole victim.

         I felt betrayed and cut him from my life. I did not care to know where he lived, or what he did. My epiphany? I was related to a common thief who cared only for himself. He never pitched in and helped anyone, nor did he ask for help. He just took.

          Decades later we'd re-located to a new village and now had our own family of three children. My husband ran his own business, a garage, and I worked in home health care. One day out of the blue, Mark appeared with no apologies, nothing. He charmed his way back into our lives and my son especially took a shine to this mystery uncle. My long lost brother found a job and claimed to be ready to settle down. I'm the big sister and grudgingly gave him the benefit of the doubt. He could have changed, right?

         Like everything with my brother this turned out to be a lie. Within a couple of months he once again stole from us and slithered away without a word of farewell. This time, he took a thousand dollars cash I had been given by my fellow Guide leaders from cookie sales. I would run the proceeds to the bank every other day as it dribbled in. Mark also emptied our freezer. To add insult to injury he decided he wanted the case consisting of twelve boxes of Guide cookies I'd purchased for our family. So, once again I was left to cover money he took and replace hundreds of dollars worth of food. In the days to follow, we noticed other items missing such as extension cords, jackets, clothing and more.

         Mark did not give a damn about me, or my family. He took what he wanted...again. Over time, stories about him surfaced. He'd spent years in and out of jail, yes, but his excuse for the robberies was a drug habit. Rumours claimed he'd also cultivated and sold marijuana to support his dependency on harder pharmaceuticals. Huh, a fancy word for the hard drugs, the debilitating kind.

         Blood is not thicker than water. My brother has no use for his siblings. Apparently, he searches me out when he wants something more than a close relationship. My epiphany: we are related in name only. Just because we share the same set of parents does not mean we are close. It's so true that we cannot choose our family. Any trust there may have been is long gone.