A Family Tragedy

On March 6th, 2022 my nephew, Scott Lindsay 38yo, died in a motorcycle accident. Needless to say, this was devastating to the family - particularly to his mom, sister, and fiance - the mother of his 4 yo son. Also he has two teenage boys, Will and Brandon. Everyone is overwhelmed by grief. Some of it is paralyzing. The last time I experienced such a level of grief was when my Mom passed away in 1994. And her death wasn't completely unexpected.

Scott had a troubled past but had really worked through that and was, by all accounts, very happy in life. He was successful with his HVAC business; successful in his relationship with his finance and her kids. His life was really on track.

The last time I saw my nephew (actually saw my family) was in late Spring 2019 for a Aunt Betty's Birthday/ Family Reunion. I only had a few minutes with him and was unable to really connect. I am so saddened by this.

At any rate, three days after his death, I was on a plane to Atlanta with a plan to stay for 2 weeks. I didn't know the funeral plans yet but I knew I needed to be there as soon as I could. I had arranged to take a week off and decided to spend an additional week in Atlanta and work remotely. I wanted to be there in case I was needed.

Thanks to the generosity of my friend Daniel Barker, I was able to stay with him in his condo in Midtown and use his car to get around as needed. I could not have asked for a better situation.

Over the next six days, I traveled back and forth between Midtown and Woodstock, GA - where Scott's family live and where the funeral was to be held. So after arriving, I quickly got settled, borrowed Daniel's car and headed to my sisters home.

When I arrived, my sister had two guests, Aunt Betty and her daughter, Leigh Ellen. Leslie was lucky to have them around. She definitely needed the emotional support. As per usual, my brother-in-law was around but stayed in his room away from everyone else.