Then There Was One

Ron and Cindy had been married for thirty-five years. They had been through hard times, and multi-million dollars in inheritances, two of them to be exact, and they were finally settled into their dream home, just miles from her daughter Lydia from a former marriage and her two Granddaughters. They were an hour and a half from Ron's son by a previous marriage.

Then why was she so unhappy?

It seemed Cindy was suffering from the same thing many seniors were facing, I will call it a misalignment. Around seventy, you feel like you have switched gears, and your children have gotten it all together, and you basically feel, not needed any longer. You feel disconnected a bit. Faced with health issues, and a disconnect, many times you just want to give up.

Cindy was talking to Ron's sister, who lived three and a half hours away in a different state, and said, "She just didn't want to live any longer." Brenda, Ron's sister, called Ron, on his cell phone, and told him he needed to get Cindy help, and she told him what she said.

Cindy, thought Brenda was here friend, and she took the caring act as a betrayal. Ron, was a bit harsh with her, as he insisted she saw a mental health counselor. She insisted she didn't need one, as she told him, "I am already on Prozac, I don't need anything else. She was on Prozac, for depression and because she couldn't sleep.

She was thrilled when her niece's son, when she texted him,he texted right back. This was a sign of the misalignment I spoke about. She told her step-son, your father isn't getting any younger, you should stop by and see him now and then. What she meant by that, is that he should stop by more often. This is all part of the misalignment, I spoke about.

Ron took her to the mental health clinic, that very day, that he got Brenda's call, and they doubled her Prozac.

They put Cindy on a 48 hour suicide watch.

Meanwhile, Cindy formulated her plan. She hid one of their loaded guns, in the bedroom, for the day that it became to much for her.

It was then that Cindy apparently made her plan. Ron had guns in the house all the time. Cindy, went in the bedroom and loaded her gun, being careful to be undetected. She did not want to end up like her Mother, who was committed to an institution at one time because of mental problems.

It seems like we all end up being our Mothers don't we? Her Mother Nancy had two children by Cindy's father. Cindy, had a full brother, and a half sister Fran, by Cindy's stepfather. It seemed Cindy got the crappy end of the deal as far as genetics go. Her fathers leg condition was apparently heriditary. The condition entailed the leg fractures, then it heals and then fractures again until it literally cripples you. Her father had it in both legs, lucky for Cindy she only had it in one of her legs. However, it was enough to cripple her, and left her walking with a cane.

Cindy's Mother died of cancer, and it looked like she got the crappy end of the deal, with that also. First, five years before, right after her Mother died, Cindy had bowel cancer, although they got all the cancer, and put her back together again, that was just her first bout with cancer. Then a year before she died, she had thyroid cancer, and they thought they got it all. However, do they ever get it all, just to have it appear in a new place on your body?

Cindy's final straw came when she had breast cancer, the cancer Cindy's mother died from. Cindy was tired, very tired, and weary of what was happening to her body. It had affected her spirit, and she was running low on things to drive her forward. Running low on things to wake up for in the morning.

Cindy had the surgery, and they removed the lump on her breast, but when she went for her checkup post surgery, they thought they had gotten all the cancer. However, on the x-ray they found a spider like web of cancerous cells. The doctors recommended chemo and radiation. Cindy Refused.

Cindy, pictured her Mother laying in the hospital bed at her sisters home, fighting the cancer that had ravaged her body. She watched her Mother try to fight a battle, she could never win.

That is when Cindy lost her will to continue.

It was a cold brisk day, in February, and Cindy took her double the Prozac as prescribed, and it did not make her feel better, but made her feel worse. She knew what she had to do, she no longer trusted anyone, certainly not her sister in-law, and not her husband of thirty-five years either. He was making plans on having surgery for his carpal tunnel in his arm. Little did he know Cindy had no plans on being around to take care of him. She looked at him as selfish and self centered, and not caring about what she was feeling.

She was lying in bed, that morning of February 23, and Ron came in and said if you want to get dressed, we will go out for breakfast. Cindy said, she wanted to rest, so Ron told her he was taking their dog Bocca out for a walk.

Ron proceeded to walk out the door, and when Cindy heard the door shut, she proceeded to implement her plan. She got up out of bed, and got the loaded gun she hid, and walked out the sliding glass doors from their dining room for the last time, and out on their deck.

Ron had gotten to the neighbors's driveway, and he heard a gunshot, and he ran back to the house, and found Cindy laying on the deck. He tried giving Cindy, CPR, but she was gone. She had put the gun up under her chin and pulled the trigger.

Cindy was gone.-

One decision ended a life, but affected so many other people's lives. Your life never belongs to you alone, but to everyone who loves you, and cares about you.

If you know of someone who is having trouble finding a reason to wake up in the morning, or is having mental difficulties, call a suicide hot line.

Brenda did the right thing alerting Ron of what Cindy said.

Unfortunately, and sadly it wasn't enough to save Cindy's life.

Then there was only one left—Ron---..........................