When you have lost someone close to you in your life, you get asked a lot of questions. Some of these questions are meek and mild, while others can be downright offensive, despite intentions. The other day at work, one of my coworkers actually asked me “aren’t you the one with the dead brother?” in front of other coworkers as well as customers.
Don’t get me wrong, the fact that I have a dead brother isn’t some fact that I hide from the world and can’t stomach talking about. I love and miss my brother, and every day I think of him, but at the same time, I understand that he is gone.
I’ve been asked plenty of questions, usually what happened, how old was he, etc. Sometimes I get the people that ask me if I’m joking, or they actually tell me that I’m lying, like I somehow made up the fact that my brother died.
My brother died when I was 5 years old and he was 13. He was riding his bike when he was hit by a red pickup truck. Luckily, he was wearing a helmet when he was hit and ended up surviving for 5 days after he was hit… but his body was too bruised and his lungs eventually filled with water.
The point of this article isn’t to talk about how crappy it is that my brother died, or how much I wish people would understand, because I understand that sometimes you just can’t understand until you go through it… although I wouldn’t wish the death of any loved one on anyone.
With summer fast approaching, I think it’s important to bring up a topic near and dear to my heart: helmets. Now before you click away, hear me out.
Helmets are incredibly important inventions that unfortunately have a bad reputation of being “uncool” and “unnecessary.” But honestly, they’re not. Children and adults need to wear helmets, because everyone is at risk of having an accident… and sometimes these accidents can happen in your own driveway.
College kids, toddlers, parents, teens, grandparents, elderly, etc. Everyone should wear a helmet because when an accident does happen that is what is going to protect your brain. Because my brother was wearing his helmet, he managed to survive the initial impact and had he recovered would have suffered little to no damage to his brain. All thanks to this “uncool” invention called a helmet.
Parents and older siblings always think that they don’t need to wear a helmet, but I can give you two good reasons that you should… One, because children learn by example and by seeing you wear a helmet (and properly, by the way), they will think that it is appropriate for them to wear a helmet. Secondly, should you accidentally fall and hurt yourself while biking, and you’re not wearing a helmet, your children may be unable to help you while you are hurt.
I know this isn’t a fun topic, and I get it, NO ONE wants to wear a helmet. They’re clunky and awkward, and they’re “uncool.” But you know what? I’d rather risk being “uncool” than crack my head open on the side of the road.
