’t put my finger on it,” he said. After attending a convention in upstate New York, before checking out of the hotel, Andrew called Margaret and said, “Honey, I’ll be home late tonight. Are you okay?” “I’m fine, but I miss you,” Margaret said. During the day, excitement filled Margaret, knowing Andrew would be home later that evening. Margaret wasn’t accustomed to being left alone. It surprised her when Andrew went to the convention instead of sending Sylvia as he usually did. After preparing a special dinner, she sat down to watch TV. Waking up later, Margaret wondered why he failed to wake her when he came home. Going up the stairs, and down the hallway to their bedroom, opening the …show more content…
“I’m sorry,” the attendant said, walking out of the room. In a demanding tone, Margaret said, “I want to know what happened. How did Andrew die? Did someone murder him?” Filled with questions and no answers, Margaret wept for the man she loved. Putting his arms around his mother, Jerry comforted her and noticed the attendant returned with a piece of paper in his hand. “Please, can you tell me what happened? How did he die?” Holding the piece of paper, the attendant said, “All I can tell you is what he wrote this paper.” He started reading, “Officer Simpson arrested Mr. Barnes last night after an accident where a man died. Mr. Barnes’s blood alcohol level was eight times the legal limit. After arresting him, the officer noticed the injuries and placed him in the medical ward. Later Mr. Barnes asked for and received a pencil and paper. Later, while making his rounds, the deputy discovered Mr. Barnes’ body hanging from the bars with strips of sheets around his neck and the deputy pronounced him dead. That’s all I can tell you,” he said, turning around, he left the …show more content…
“The only thing he knew, it was suicide. We’ll learn the details later.” +++ On a sunny afternoon, the family, friends, and neighbors gathered to pay their final respects to Andrew Barnes. Afterward, they buried him in the family cemetery near his parents. Stephanie attended the funeral and joined the mourners for lunch. While eating lunch, she noticed her dad’s friends and neighbor’s reaction as they shared memories of Andrew Barnes, a great man. Wishing her brother had not shared their father committed suicide, and then perhaps she could listen as they fashioned a great man from the pieces of the monster she remembered. With tears pouring down her face, she sat all alone, feeling as though they just buried a stranger. Suddenly her dad’s best friend, Bill walked over placed his arm around her and said, “Stephanie, don’t hate him, he was a sick man.” Wanting to scream, “They knew what they were doing and still did it.” Instead, the only thing she could do was weep for the father, she never