Happy Thanksgiving to All and especially to those of us who are feeling our Loss

As I sit here and reflect on past Thanksgivings, all I can think of is those who meant so much to me who are no longer with me.  Of course, I think of my parents who I shared a close relationship with and were the cornerstones of my life.

Oh, how I miss them.  My dad making numerous trips to the grocery store, picking up things he forgot and additional items my mom sent him to get to make that Thanksgiving dinner so special.  Mom was always in the kitchen and the fumes from the turkey, collard greens, candid yams, etc. to delight your pallet filled the air.

Until I lost my beloved Justin, I did the same thing for my daughter Shenita and him.   Holiday were always important.  What seemed so trivial but meant so much is gone and life will never be the same again.  I don’t care how many people come or don’t come, life is so different and the magnitude of our loss cannot be measured or debated.

Nevertheless, this Thanksgiving, let’s keep in mind the blessings God has graced us with. The fact that God did not give us our children and loved ones, he loaned them to us. Just as he giveth, he taketh. And as thankful we are for that loan and equally as hurt from the loss, let’s look to those we still have with us, enjoy them, be thankful for them and not take them for granted.

And let’s remember that the memories we make today are the ones we will look back on tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone from http://www.survivingmurder1.com

Denise Cosby

​Author of Forthcoming Memoir:

Murder at Harvard University Kirkland House –A Mother’s Worst Nightmare

THE CALL

 

EVERYDAY A PARENT RECEIVES A CALL THAT CHANGES THEIR LIVES FOREVER.  THIS IS THE CALL THAT NOBODY WISHES ON THEIR WORST ENEMY. FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE RECEIVED THIS CALL;

DO YOU REMEMBER THE CALL?

“The Call”

On May 18, 2009, I received “the call.”

The call that changed my life forever still rings loudly in my head almost five years later.

Around 4:15 p.m. on May 18, 2009, I stood in front of my television set and watched a news bulletin flash across my screen.  The report indicated a young man had been shot at Harvard University.  Having been home all day, I decided to go out for a while after watching the alarming news story.    I left the house thinking my son Justin was in his room due to the fact that he had been there all day.  I planned to call him a little later that afternoon.  About an hour after leaving the house I received a call from Justin’s girlfriend.  She told me Justin had left home and she hadn’t heard from him in some time.  After trying to text him and call him, she could not reach him.  This was unusual for Justin so she decided to call me.  I told her I had not heard from Justin and would call him.  Justin was very close to me.  Proud to be a “momma’s boy,” he was 21 years old, and my baby.  If I called him, he would always answer or call me right back.  I picked up the phone and called him.  The call went straight to his voice mail.  I left him a message to call me right away.  I began to text him and received no answer.  The silence concerned me.  I decided to leave my friends’ home of whom I had gone to visit with for a while, and proceeded to drive home.

Opioid Crisis and The White House: A National Emergency of Mixed Messages

Josh DuBose, a free-lance reporter and graduate student at Harvard reports “Mixed Messages on Opioid Crisis and the White House”.

 

A little more than a week ago, on August 10, President Trump announced plans to declare a national emergency in lieu of the nation’s crisis of opioid overdose deaths. According to the White House’s own survey, opioid related fatalities now kill 142 Americans every single day.

Just two days earlier, however, on August 8, Trump said his administration’s approach to battling the addiction epidemic would come in the form of law-and-order. “Strong law enforcement is absolutely vital to having a drug-free society,” the president told a room of assembled advisors and reporters.

The about-face  from beefing-up law enforcement ranks to declaring a national emergency has…….http://joshdubose.com/2017/08/18/opioid-crisis-white-house-national-emergency-mixed-messages/

Happy Mother’s Day!

A mother is Love. A mother is strength. A mother is a nurturer? A mother is one of the most patient people on earth. A mother can be biological or not. She gives many chances and have taken much crap from her Young  yet she  stands strong behind them.  She takes care of her young or the young she has come to know as her children.  A mother is a teacher doctor and a preacher.

 A mother is forgiving. When she is at the end of her rope  and think she is about to brake – her rope gets a little longer and she gives her child just one more chance.

 A mother teaches right from wrong. She not only talk the talk she walks the walk. A mother recognizes that children learn by example. A good mother is Godly.

There are many who can quote you every scripture in the bible but do not live by them.  A good mother  teaches by example.

A mother is an inspiration.  She is dependable in times of need. She creates memories that last beyond life or when there is nothing else to hang on too.

Many of us mothers have lost all children to murder By the hands of the evil.  Let us know that the memories we hold today are what we created yesterday. When we separate from our children we embrace the memories we shared through the good times and the bad.

Know that as long as we have breath in our bodies there is still time to embrace the children we have left here on Earth and create new memories that will leave a smile in the hearts of those left behind when we are no longer together.

My mother was all of those things and I miss her dearly!

Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers from www.survivingmurder1.com

MOTHER’S DAY WALK FOR PEACE

IN MEMORY OF JUSTIN COSBY

ABOUT 2017 MOTHER’S DAY WALK FOR PEACE

The 21^st Annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace: “In Unity, There is Healing: Invest in Peace”

The Mother’s Day Walk for Peace is a celebration of our potential to create more peaceful communities. Every year families from across the state and region walk together toward peace because in unity, there’s healing! Join us on Mother’s Day to demand dignity and compassion for all families impacted by murder.

 

PAROLE DENIED FOR BLAYN JIGGETTS (ONE OF JUSTIN COSBY’S MURDERERS)

 

In October 2011, the Massachusetts Superior Court sentenced Blayn Jiggetts, an an accomplice of Jabrai Copney in the murder of Justin Cosby to serve 9-12 years for his role in Justin Cosby’s murder.  It has not been 8 years yet and he  had the audacity to petition the Massachusetts State Board of Appeals for an early release on February 23, 2011.

Blayn Jiggetts appeared before a Parole Hearings panel and spoke of activities and programs he has participated in since he has been locked up.

Impact statements were delivered by Justin’s mother Denise and his Aunt Joyce. They reminded the Court how much pain and trauma this predator has caused Justin’s family, friends and the Community in which he lived.  The family spoke of the trauma of losing Justin so young to murder because of someone else’s selfishness.  Justin’s Aunt Joyce told the Court how she witnessed the trauma her sister experienced watching her son die as she stood beside his blood drenched sheets and watch the hope dwindle from the doctors faces that fateful day in May 2009.

Denise, Justin’s mom told the Court that Death is like having a conversation you never finish and when it occurs because of someone else’s decision other than God, it is unforgivable in her eyes.  Also, she stated:  “I wish my son was here and could get a second chance, however Death is final. There are no appeals, second chances or considerations of parole. Thus the person who causes another’s death and receives a sentence from a judge and jury for his punishment should be final also!”  If the Court were to release this man this early after being involved in murder and other violent crimes, it would send the wrong message.  “You can commit the crime, participate in activities while locked up and you do not have to do the time!”  Denise also suggested to the Court that: “For the community and for Justin, Blayn Jiggetts has been sentenced to serve 12 years for his role and he should not be released a day sooner unless you can grant the same opportunity to Justin.”

On February 24, 2017, The Massachusetts State Board of Appeals DENIED Blayn Jiggetts request for parole!

God is good of of the time!

 

 

 

7 years have passed. Missing you so much!

Today, with much sadness marks 7 years since my son Justin was shot.  The years are passing fast.  Each day I miss him more and more and would do anything to hear his voice again.  I am always a little confused as to whether I should recognize him on the day he was shot which is May 18 or May 19 when he died.

Today, I recognize him because when he was shot, we lost him.  Justin only regained consciousness for a short time which he was in the hospital.  I was not in the room at the moment but the nurse informed me that she had notified Justin I was there.

It bothers me that I did not get to tell him myself while he was conscious but Thank God that he knew I was there.

Murder is just about the worst thing that can happen to someone.  It does not only take the person’s life that was murdered but it drains the quality of life from everyone who loved that person.  This pain has not only affected my family but so many families are mourning.

Today, I recognize my son Justin Cosby.

I will always love you and miss you forever.

Mom

“MELISSA COWAN – A MOTHER, A WIFE, A CHILD, A SISTER, A FRIEND – A TRAGEDY”

In April, 2014, Melissa Cowan (27) and her husband Carrington Joesph (27) appeared on a National Syndicated Talk Show “The Trisha Show” in an attempt for Melissa to save her marriage.  She wanted to prove to her husband that she had been faithful to him.  He had also questioned the paternity of their 4-month old twin babies that were proven to be his babies from the lie detector test Melissa took on the show.  Two weeks later, on May 2, 2014, Melissa and Carrington engaged in a heated argument and Melissa attempted to leave the home.  Melissa’s 18 year old sister was in the home with them and attempted to call the police for help when Carrington threatened her.  She managed to escape the home and ran out screaming hysterically for help.  As Melissa’s twins set in their car seats ready to leave with their mother, Carrington went to the kitchen and grabbed several knives from the drawers.  He first stabbed Melissa in the back as she tried to exit the home.  Melissa fell out of the door and her sister and a neighbor attempted to pull her away from him.  Carrington put a knife to her head.  He pulled Melissa back into the house by her hair and continued to stab her 82 times breaking several knives in her before she took her last breath in front of her 4 month old twins.

The police arrived minutes after the call was dispatched, Carrington still had a knife in his hands and blood from Melissa had splashed everywhere including over the twins.  There was so much blood splattered over the twins from their mother that they could not identify the boy from the girl.  Upon his arrest, he showed no remorse.  In addition to the twins, this heinous murder left 5 children motherless.

Carrington was charged with murder and was facing the death penalty.  However, Melissa’s family agreed to have him tried in front of a Judge instead so they would not have to endure the years of repeat trauma going in and out of court a death penalty involves.

www.survivingmurder1.com Wishes each and everyone A Very “Happy Thanksgiving!”

I AM THANKFUL TO HAVE HAD A CHILD THAT I LOVED SO DEARLY AND LOSS THAN TO HAVE NEVER HAD KNOWN THAT LOVE AT ALL!  

THANK YOU GOD FOR HAVING LOANED ME JUSTIN DEVIN CORNELIUS DANIEL COSBY FOR 21 GLORIOUS YEARS.

ENJOY YOUR DAY!

Denise Cosby

Author: Upcoming Memoir – “Murder at Harvard University’s Kirkland House – A Mother’s Worst Nightmare!”

 

 

A ROOM THAT IS ALL TO FAMILIAR

 

A ROOM THAT I S ALL TO FAMILIAR – PART 1

 

A ROOM THAT I S ALL TO FAMILIAR – PART 1

MASSACHUSETTS CELEBRATES VICTIMS SURVIVORS’ AWARENESS MONTH AT THE STATE HOUSE

This month began with a celebration at the State House that was hosted by Tina Cherry and the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.

I have had the honor of being mentored by the award winning author Michael Patrick MacDonald over the past couple of months.

He asked us to write a story about “A Room that is all to familiar to us.”  Several rooms came to mind but this room kept overshadowing the others.  In memory of my son Justin Devin Cornelius Daniel Cosby and other victims of violence I have written about this room I know so well.

 

YES, I KNOW THIS ROOM
       
This room is all too familiar to me. These walls have stories to tell. I have been in this place far too many times. Though this room is decorated elegantly with fancy draperies, pictures, flowers and mementos, this room disturbs me — I hate this room.

Yes, I know this room. I know it well. Most of the time this room does not discriminate. This room has no name engraved on its front door. This room has no race. This room is ageless. This room denies no gender. This room does not care what your class or status is, who you are or where you are in life. This room does not care what your political views are or what connections you have. Everyone will pass through this room at one time or another. Yes, sooner or later, we all know this room.

The photos that adorn this room change from week to week, sometimes day to day. Sometimes, the faces are far too young to be on these walls. Old and young, dressed in their Sunday best, stand telling stories — memories of a loved one who is gone. I’ve been in this room with my mother and my father. I’ve also been in this room with two of my brothers. Lord, have mercy, I’ve been in this room with so many others. Yes, I know this room.