How do you get up and dust off your sadness and keep on living after your 24 year old son has been shot down by police.
Losing a child or a loved one must be the most difficult experience a person can face. Life has some order and that order dictates that children should bury their parents and not the other way around.
In Guyana recently, the Police shot down a young man, Kevin Dillon, in broad daylight. They claimed he had a gun and was part of a robbery. His mother said that her son never owned a gun and was not involved in any trouble with the law. Before the day he was gunned down by the Police, he had never been in trouble with the law. But Guyana is a lawless place these days and incompetencies are covered up and there is no system of holding police and other members of the government accountable.
What do you do at a time like this? You can give in to powerlessness, you can take up the fight for justice or you can take time to appreciate the time you had with this person and be grateful that he was part of your life even if for a short time. The person who took the life of this boy will carry the guilt for the incompetence and arrogance that will not allow him to apologize and accept his mistake. It is not the incompetence that will haunt this soul but the denial of it. If the policeman accepted he made a mistake and took someone’s life wrongfully, he will be relieved of the burden of guilt but if he hides behind his badge and continue to be untruthful the shadow of that lie will live with him and fester and he will not know peace again. He will be a wretched soul.
On the other hand, the mother of the child will find peace in embracing the memory of her son and be thankful that she gave him life and he lived a good life.
According to Guyana’s national newspaper, Stabroek News, in an interview with Dillon a year ago about his job with a pilot programme in horticulture, Dillon is quoted as saying that even though this was not what he dreamt of doing, it is nonetheless an honest job. At that time he said he said he wanted to make his family proud and would never do anything that would make his family ashamed of him. That was a year ago. Is this a coincidence? Is it fate that ensured the voice of this young man would be heard after his death? Deepak Chopra said there are no accidents. He talks about meaningful coincidence and synchronicity and I believe this is one of those.
May this young man’s soul rest in peace. He was a wonderful human being and I am so glad that he was part of my life. I carry a pi
ece of him now in my heart and my soul.