This is my sister. At the time of the home invasion, I happened to be staying at our family’s home while my sister and I shared caretaking responsibilities for our elderly mother. We were all so grateful that, just a few days prior, Mom relocated to my sister’s nearby home under her care. We had a bit of tunnel vision as we focused on our mother’s well-being. Due to this focus, little consideration was given to our surroundings and personal safety. This will be an entire topic of discussion in a future post.
To follow is a brief journal written by my younger sister about her discovery of the violent home invasion:
“On December 17, while relaxing and watching the World News, I saw a Facebook post from a friend showing the parking lot of Harbor Freight in our small town. It was surrounded by police cars and emergency vehicles. She took a short 20 second video and posted “in harbor freight parking lot, area set up for a helicopter to land, prayers for whoever is affected”, I quickly mentioned to my husband, “something is going on in Conyers”. Minutes later, I received a phone call that shook me to the core! The sheriff introduced himself to me and said that my older sister had been shot in a home invasion and was being life-flighted to a trauma hospital in Atlanta. He told me that I needed to get to the hospital right away and that somebody else needed to get to our childhood home to secure it after the police were finished with their investigation. I was in pure panic mode and asked if she was still alive. He said as far as he knew. I ran in and told my mother and sent my husband to the house and took off in my car hyperventilating the whole way. I did not know what I was going to find out at the hospital.
My sister fought for her life and almost didn’t make it at least 3 times that we know of…She received approximately 40 units of blood on the helicopter ride to the hospital. Overall, she has received over 60 units of blood while in ICU for 15 days. Her abdomen was wide open for about 12 days, she was intubated for 13 days, she has severe damage to her right leg, and we are still not sure if she will get to keep her leg. She is alive and we could not be more thankful, but what she has had to endure is senseless and frightening to think about. She has a long road to recovery ahead of her! One of the trauma surgeons told us that people do not survive this type of injury, so I am sure that there is a reason for her survival. I know that she has a story to tell.”
Not only did this senseless violence give my sister the shock of her life, but it instantly turned her into a primary caretaker for our elderly mother. My sister ended up converting a guest bedroom for in-home rehabilitation upon my release from the hospital 2 months later. This event caused my sister to suddenly take on intense caretaking for two close family members. She is an incredibly strong person, but took on more than I could ever imagine asking anyone to do. Our other sister was on the opposite side of the country managing a highly successful staging business that demanded all of her time. She had to move heaven and earth to make her way back to the family home where she also gave tremendous love and support. A whole other place and time can be dedicated to how the experience impacted my daughter and husband and how a huge village of family and friends stepped up for us.
Needless to say, the rippling effects of this brutal crime extended to our entire family, neighbors, friends, and the community as a whole. The incident compelled dear and longtime neighbors to make gut wrenching decisions to uproot from a close-knit community and neighborhood where they supported and celebrated each other for almost fifty years.
I am humbled and grateful for all of the love and support. And, it is my honor going forward to continue to share and highlight the ripple effects in other's stories in order to mainstream this conversation. I want to provide a resource so that others may understand and be compelled to seek a balanced approach to personal safety and living their best lives.
On a lighter note, this is Jack Nicholson AKA "Jack". He was the sweetest rescue Shih Tzu. The little guy was deaf and mostly blind. When family was called to the scene of the home invasion, they found him exactly where I had left him. Napping on a little heated throw at the foot of the recliner. Not only was he unharmed, but he was oblivious to all of the drama. As far as he knew, I had stepped away momentarily and would be returning to his side as always. This is a great example of how disadvantages can also become a blessing. Doors crashing in, multiple shots fired and intruders running through the house failed to disrupt Jack’s blissful state.
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