Sudden Death - Too Young - 1. Sudden Death - Too Young

Sudden Death - Too Young

She'd kissed her husband Richard good-bye as he left on a business trip a few hours ago. Tina was just getting back from the elementary school after taking the three kids to the book fair. The two oldest attended school there. The three of them liked reading to different degrees. Richard Jr., the oldest at ten, only somewhat, but Pokemon and similar books were his choice. Lynn, the middle child loved reading, and at seven, had outgrown your typical "baby" books, but still was able to find a few she liked. Frances, the youngest, was four, also loved reading, and still enjoyed Barney the dinosaur and all the currently popular preschool topics.

It was supposed to be a quiet, relaxing evening. Not everything turns out the way it is supposed to.

Tina thought to herself, "First thing to do is find something for them when they inevitably tire of their new books." This wasn't very hard for the eldest two, especially in this age of hand-held video games. They would move on to their Game Boys and would be satisfied for at least an hour or two. It wasn't all that difficult for the youngest either. Frances loved doing puzzles, and the bookshelf that held all the games had plenty of them.

With the kids thus occupied, Tina sat down at the computer to play solitaire. An ash tray was to her left, along with a pack of Misty cigarettes. Being right-handed, the mouse was obviously to her right. A double-click on the icon, and the game began. The first game ended with six cards remaining to be melded. Tina clicked "New Game". The second game was worse; eleven cards remained. This continued with varied results for a little while until she felt the need for a cigarette. She was starting to feel a little bit peaked, so she left the small family room to sit in the easy chair in the living room.

Something was obviously wrong, because she started feeling worse very quickly. Tina used Pepto-Bismol exclusively for an upset stomach, which was initially what she thought to be the extent of her illness. There was a half-bath on the main floor, and hopefully its medicine chest contained a bottle. Tina didn't want to have to climb the stairs. She was thinking she wouldn't have the energy to do that. Yes! There it was. She took a big swig and made her way back to the easy chair to let the medicine start working.

It didn't take long before Tina realized the antacid wasn't going to be sufficient. After just five minutes or so, the stomach and chest pains were getting nearly unbearable. Calling the eldest over to get the cordless phone for her, Tina dialed Barbara, her next-door neighbor. This action, and her pallor, of course alarmed the children. Tina asked the neighbor to come over to watch the kids, because she was going to call 9-1-1 and have an ambulance come. Fortunately, the rescue squad was just a mile or so away. They lived in a small town. Everything was a mile or so away.

When the paramedics arrived, they put her on the gurney immediately and took her out to the ambulance. The neighbor gave them both Tina’s and her phone numbers to get any news. Looking through the front window as she rolled to the ambulance, she saw her children watching, concerned. Since the neighbor had a small child of her own, Barbara felt it best to take them all next door.

A short time later, the hospital called with the information that it appeared Tina was having a heart attack, and they were attempting to revive her. The neighbor went next door quickly to retrieve Richard's cell phone number, which Barbara had neglected to get before she left.

Moments later, Barbara was on the phone with Richard explaining what had happened, and the doctor said he should call. It may be a cliche, but Richard literally dropped the phone when he got the news. Coincidentally, the same thing had happened roughly two years earlier when he got a similar call about his father. The doctor told him that they were still working on her, and he should call back again in a little while and he'd have more information. Since Richard was out getting a late dinner with his two associates, they quickly returned to the hotel to pack up and leave.

When Richard called back, he was told his wife had died; they couldn't resuscitate her. One associate drove the car. He arrived at the hospital near the little town while the second drove Richard's car. It was quite apparent that he was in no condition to drive. The two associates drove, even though they were from the main office on the other side of the state.

Six or so hours later, Richard arrived at the hospital to see his deceased wife. After spending another couple of hours at the hospital, he left to go home and do the hardest thing he'd ever have to do in his life, tell his children their mother died.

Later, the autopsy report indicated it was an ACD - Acute Coronary Dissection. Tina had no chance. She was only 38.

Of course, the story doesn't end there. Life goes on for the survivors. First up was the funeral. This was the beginning of the test of Richard's faith. When he was a little boy, he wanted to be a priest when he grew up. Sometime around high school, that goal changed. Accounting classes piqued his interest, and he decided on that for a career. This was a decision that didn't hold beyond one year of college. Two years each of mechanical and architectural drawing in high school provided a sufficiently challenging alternative -- engineering. Richard met Tina at his first job after graduation. Fate, it appeared, played a hand in the career choices.

The funeral and the period following provided an addition to Richard's grief -- anger. He heard things like 'God has a plan,' and 'God needed her.' What kind of a God needs a mother more than three young children? The obvious answer to him was, 'no God.' Faith shaken, he persevered.

Fortunately, in the same small town resided Tina's cousin and aunt. Another lucky break was that Richard had a job whereby working from home was an option. Probably not possible without the change from accounting. He arranged with his manager to work from home three days a week and come into the office the other two. That lasted for a month or so before it became necessary to make it one in the office and four at home. Family helping has its limits, and Richard also felt the need to be home as much as possible.

Even with the familial assistance, things were tough for Richard. While the children were generally well behaved, the changes brought about issues. Anger had caused the older two to react badly to every disagreement. Having to quell these arguments took their toll. But Richard knew he was all they had left, so he did the ‘grin and bear it’ routine. Keeping the emotional triggers at bay, for the most part.

However, the next trigger was just around the corner. One day, Richard decided he was going to drive at a high rate of speed into the back of a semi on his way to work. There was always traffic on the route, so the opportunity was bound to occur. On this day, Lynn, the middle child, decided she wasn't feeling well and wanted to stay home from school. With no plans made to have family there before school ended, he stayed home. First suicidal crisis averted.

As it is wont to do, time went on. Richard eventually found another woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Wedding plans were made. Unfortunately, as the wedding date neared, a project at work caused him a lot of stress. One day, he felt he had reached the breaking point. He left a note for Paula, the wife-to-be, saying he was sorry, and that he couldn't deal with everything anymore and for her to tell his children he loved them. He drove away from home with every intention of jumping off an overpass into traffic. He even had the overpass picked out. A low wall, no fence, it would be easy to tumble in front of a van or truck. He even stopped just before driving onto the overpass. Perhaps it was the thought of ruining someone else's life by dropping down from the sky onto their car that prevented him from following through. Whatever it was, he got back on the highway and drove until he encountered an exit in a heavily wooded area. He could get lost in the woods and die of exposure; nobody else would need to be affected. One thing he hadn't counted on was OnStar. His vehicle was equipped with it. Although he didn't remain subscribed after the free period, that didn't negate the fact that it was still functional.

Paula wasn't feeling well that day, so remaining in bed, she didn't find the note. Richard's son did. He stormed into the master bedroom demanding to know what Paula had done to send his father off the rails. Nothing seemed amiss; Richard was very good at hiding his emotions. Richard Jr. had a friend whose father was a policeman in the next town. The friend was called, the police were reached, OnStar was contacted. Richard's vehicle was located parked in a diner lot adjacent to the woods. Searching thousands of acres of woods was not prudent, so the waiting game began.

Richard wandered through the woods, not really knowing, or caring where he was going. Strangely enough, he had brought iced tea with him on this trek. Who makes sure they won’t get thirsty when they’re going to kill themselves? Apparently, Richard. He stopped often to take a drink. Even though it was a late April day, it was quite warm. This also caused Richard to stop and rest occasionally as well.

Hours later, after dark, he realized he was being stupid. He decided he should head home and go get help. Suicidal crisis #2 averted. He found his way out of the woods to a road and luckily made all the correct turns to return to his vehicle. Richard was pulling off onto the exit ramp to go home when the local police pulled him over. Paula was taken to the police station by another friend of the family. Paula later commented that Richard seemed like an empty shell. He spent three days in the hospital's behavioral unit, then two weeks in an outpatient program. After this, he was referred to a local psychiatrist. Richard got along well with his psychiatrist. The doctor even recommended an author to Richard. Lee Child remains a favorite to this day. Unfortunately, after a couple of years, the psychiatrist died of cancer. The doctor he was transferred to was another good match. If this wasn’t true, the story might have had a tragic ending.

All seemed to be going well until his second wife, Paula, by then the marriage had occurred as scheduled, discovered Richard looking at pictures of men on his computer. He convinced the wife that the men were in bathing suits, but the wife insisted he speak to the psychiatrist about it. Paula even accompanied him on his next visit to ensure he discussed it. It was obviously embarrassing, but Richard did what he needed to do. As one would expect, once the dam was broken, the looking at men on the internet didn't stop, but he learned to cover his tracks. At this point, while he didn't know if it was a real thing or not, Richard considered himself a closet bisexual. His life continued as before, without further issue.

While his faith in a higher power never returned, he had faith in himself. He decided that was good enough.