A Sad Reunion

     I wasn't supposed to find out early.  My Mother was the first, in our family, to be told.  She worked in Valdosta.  A 45 minute ride away.  She worked for her brother at a jewelry store.  The family called and spoke to him first.  My uncle, Chuck, and Daddy had been friends for many years.  He was taken aback at the news.  His task was extremely daunting.  How do you share this kind of information with a loved one?  Married 30+ years, 5 children and a host of memories.  Yes, they were divorced but she still loved him.  How do you say the words when you don't want them to be truth? He shared and Mom responded much the way he expected her to.  They were close, and he was heartbroken for her.  They tarried as long as necessary for my Mom to put herself back together, somewhat, and then she must tell her children.  They mustn't find out in some harsh way.  She went and got my sister Charity from work, told her. They drove to Moultrie and found my brother, Brandon, and told him.  They all then came straight for my house.  I think God had intervened on my part.  My mother had wanted to tell me, she had told my aunt and uncle to wait, not to tell me yet.  If  I hadn't received the phone call, if my aunt had not told my husband, I would have been headed straight for a school full of people who already knew.  I am so thankful,  God chose to intervene.  I would not have done well in front of so many people. In the worst of tragedies, you can see God's hand moving on your behalf, you can see it, if you choose to look.  My mom didn't know I would be headed to the school.  Day in and day out I am here at my home.  Why would I leave? This is where I work, taking care of precious little children.  I never leave. (well, almost never).
     Not long after I received the news, my mom, uncle, sister and brother showed up.  What a sad reunion.   So hard.  They had not heard any details.  Only that he had been shot and killed.  We had heard more by  this point.  We had been told that it was possibly the waitress's jealous ex-husband.  We shared what we knew with the group.  They had not known he had been murdered.  This produced such a violent reaction I decided not to say he had been beaten, too.  No, not yet.  I slipped out to get my husband aside and tell him what I thought.  His response was 'They are going to have to know.' I just told him, not yet.  I am glad that we chose not to share this piece of info.  I really don't know why it made it worse but for me it did.  To be tortured or beaten and then killed.  How horrific.  The mental pictures those things conjure up are unbearable.     You can imagine my gratefulness in learning that it was not true.  Jack, the one who found him, had said that it looked like that.  When the coroner saw him he said it wasn't the case.  He said that a shot-gun wound of that enormity would cause just such an appearance.  The autopsy would confirm his speculation.  I was so thankful.  Hard to imagine being thankful, but I was. He wasn't beaten, he wasn't scared or angry or any kind of negative emotion, when he died.  He was caught off guard and possibly a little surprised.  This was all.  It is hard to explain the relief that brought me.  The news that he had been beaten would still be circulated but not to my family, not this day.
   We all scrambled to get in touch with family in Atlanta,  my other 2 sisters were there and did not know.  We wanted it to be an aunt or uncle or close friend to tell them, in a proper place where they could mourn.  We had trouble getting anyone that could go, in time.  This search would not go for long.  My sister called my phone. Someone else had gotten to her first.  Tia(Charisa) and my other sister Sarah were in a restaurant, at the register ready to order, when they found out.  Charisa  lived, and went to school, at Kennesaw but Sarah had just happened to go up to visit her.  My mom had not wanted Sarah to make the trip.  Sarah hadn't driven on the Interstate much.  Sarah had been determined to go.  We all were thankful, now, she did.  They would be together, not alone, when they grieved.   Unfortunately, they did find out in a public place.  The response from them got a free meal from the staff there, though they couldn't eat it.  They would pack and come home as soon as possible.  We would all be together very soon...
  On the other side, my uncle Mike had been very busy.  After the initial shock of finding out, his mind had begun to work.  He remembered the comments my father had made.  He knew Mr. B had worked with different farmers here and there.  He knew who he was, or at least he knew how to find out who he was, and where to find him.  He was driven to catch the man, who had dared to shoot and kill his baby brother on their own family property.  He worked closely with the investigators and it proved very profitable.  We had a suspect, (the killer) in custody before the end of the day.