My Father Was Murdered When I Was Five

In 1997, when my father was killed, I was only 5 years old, and my brother was 9.

The world in 1997 was like this — Diana, Princess of Wales, was killed in a car crash in Paris, Mother Teresa died in Calcutta, Tornado hit in Jarrell, Texas, killing 27 people. All that depressing, heartbreaking incidents happened in those days of 1997.

It is a text about a murder. What did you expect? Happy facts?

Don’t worry, this is not going to be depressive, but it is going to be deep, for me at least. It’s time to go back in time with memories.

The Night of the Shooting

It was a weeknight. I remember being at home with my mom and my brother. I’m not sure of what we were doing at the moment. A friend of our family came to our house and gave my mom the news.

Have you seen Kill Bill? Well, if not, there’s a fight scene where you can see only the silhouette of the bride killing everyone. That’s how my memory shows it to me every time I try to revisit that night.

I see this friend of ours holding my mom while she cracks with the news that from that moment on, she would have to face life and parenthood alone. She’d have to be a mother and a father to two kids. It is no easy task. I know that now.

From that news on, I know that my mom changed. The sense of an even higher responsibility took over her, and she became super. At least I saw her like that as a kid.

The Murder

I don’t know much about everything that happened, so I am going to tell you the facts that I heard over the years.

My father had 11 siblings, and one of them was very similar to him. I see the resemblance until today. I think if my father were alive now, he would be exactly like my uncle Mario (I’ll use a fake name not to expose him).

Mario was involved in some deep shit and owed money to some dangerous people. It’s important to say that I came from a Christian family, and everyone was doing okay in life, especially my father.

Mario, on the other hand, was not. I think he was the first one in the family to ever get into this underworld of criminality. I mean, he did not commit any crime, but he borrowed money from people who did. That’s enough to put your life in another direction, isn’t it?

My mom never said anything bad about my father, and for the 10years they were married, she was very happy. She’s always told my brother and me that he was a very good and generous man. Well, that’s what got him killed.

He tried to help his brother, and that didn’t turn out very well. One night, those guys that my uncle Mario owed money to appeared and killed my father instead — for getting involved.

He was shot 5 times in his chest and died before any help arrives.

It’s crazy, isn’t it? To be a good man was what killed my dad. I know there are a lot of people in history who died for the same reason.

What About the Killer

I heard that he was arrested, a few months after my father’s murder. He probably started killing again. I mean, that was his job. It was only a matter of time. I don’t know his name nor his face. I never wanted to know.

I don’t know why I have never wanted to hate anyone in the whole story. Maybe after watching so many movies about vengeance and how that can destroy people’s lives, I decided to move on.

Arts can teach us so much.

What About My Uncle Mario

You must be thinking I hate my uncle, right? Maybe I did for a while, but I don’t anymore.

I don’t have any contact with him anymore because he decided to disappear with his family. They were never close to us.

I know the guilt must have hurt him a lot through the years.

The Good World in 1997

Every year has its good-and-bad, and 1997 had no exception. In that year —

- Mars Pathfinder landed on the surface of Mars

- Titanic was released and became one of the biggest successes in the history of cinema

- Steve Jobs returned to run Apple Computers.

I just wanted to share some good happenings that went down in 1997.

Final Thoughts

I believe that everything happens for a reason. Of course, I would’ve loved to have grown with a father figure in my life. Who wouldn’t?

I may not understand why it happened, but God gave me some other stuff to fill this gap, and I am happy with that.

I have a big brother who’s always been there for me, no matter what.