Real Crime

I'm going to do something unorthodox by letting you all in on a true crime that destroyed my ex wife to the core and in the meantime, made me feel like the threat of my marriage as over.

Now, let me be clear, I barely knew the victim, but I knew my wife at the time held him as her first love. Which, I'll admit is a pretty powerful feeling. I'm sure you, yourself, is thinking of that first true love that your heart told you to go after with everything you had. And then the heartbreak of the relationship ending, only to constant use that as your benchmark of future partners in your life.

Okay, lets get into the nitty gritty...

The following is based on a true story. Names and places may have been altered for the purposes of this content.

I always research details when this is shown and this is a blockbuster story you should increase awareness. Awareness all across the world. Holy cheese and crackers, are we starting yet?

You already know, my ex-love of my life had someone she used as a benchmark. Now, he was older than me, had a small group of friends that were inseparable, puffed his chest a little bit, but at the core...the biggest softy you could ever know. He was always looking out for people that were getting the wrong end of the stick, even if it put himself in danger. Well, that's where the story really starts.

Late night food, anyone out partying knows, getting some food after the club always helps the next day. Well, this night back in June 2008, the 28th to be exact, a group of friends, including the man I've described above, headed to a local restaurant for some late night grub. While waiting for their order in this small, under capacity neighborhood restaurant, this group of friends noticed a female being harassed. They couldn't take it any longer....

What happens next is a mystery.....The only fact that we know, is the man that was the first love of my ex wife. Was deceased. And HOW is it even possible that not one person that witnessed this event could remember the attack and any details related to the vehicle of description of the perpetrators?

Street gangs....

Everyone sees the movies, the stories, the news, the rumors. But, where does that get us? Nowhere. The problem? No one is equipped to stand up to these people unless you are trained? And how many trained combative personnel are out dining at later night restaurants to ensure a level of peace is upheld? Not very many, I can tell you that. The local authority are stretched thin throughout the cities, doing all they are able to do for surveillance (I respect all that they do, day in, day out). So, guess what...these said street low life's influence our neighbors and store owners that nothing happened and if they speak up, they will come after them.

That's pretty powerful! I know I don't want to put my family in harms way. But what can we do? Where is the justice? How do the families, that this exact story happens to across the world, cope with an unsolved mystery? The brutal answer is they can't! There is no official closure! That's the worst outcome of this entire story. The outcome of all the stories posted for this challenge, that they go unsolved. Some are mysterious, some are outrageous, but some are deep, to the heart, close to home.

My heart goes out to all the families that are involved in any of these stories, and the families that haven't had any publicity related to their tragic stories. They are not any less important than any other.

What can we do? I believe that communication with your kids is key. Personally, I am active in my families lives. I coach sports so that I can help aspiring kids skills to advance them in sport, but also to have the opportunity to educate them on the fundamental skill sets of becoming a member of society that hopefully strays away from the life of crime. It's a never ending battle, but I challenge each one of you reading this to look at children in a different light. They are malleable, they are watching, they listen. Let's try and show them the proper skills in life to squeeze crime out.

I like to think of it as the lawn battling weeds. If the grass is healthy and thick, it chokes out the weeds. But if you don't tend, nurture and care for the grass, the weeds thrive and overtake the yard.

Let's do our part and tend to them minds of our youth. Let's try and prevent the unsolved crimes that happen everyday in our very our neighborhoods. We need to attack the issue at the source...the innocent youth going through the toughest part of their lives (I'd say 12-16 years old). But starts earlier for sure.

Let's allow our youth to live a full life. Take action!