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.

“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.