A Graduation Speech: Who's Kidd?

Keontrell,

Thank you for sharing your experiences with the class. It’s ODD, because generally I would say that, I enjoyed reading someone’s post or nice post, but these situations aren’t nice. Some of these are tragedies that are being expressed in writing, that rely on using strength and courage. Some of the actions that we take also rely on strength and courage or the actions we may want to take cannot be fulfilled without strength and courage.

First, I would like to say, I am sorry for what you and your sister had to go through. No one male or female should have to experiences such things. I cant say that, I had a similar experience to you, because, I was never injured by my sisters ex. However, I know what its like to have a sister
go through domestic abuse. In the past I often found myself wondering if things would have been different, if I reacted differently.

Quite a few years ago my sister and her boyfriend got into an argument in my apartment.
This was a few months after she took him back, a few months after she left the shelter for battered women. He gave her the speech of I’m sorry, I learned my lesson, it will never happened again, I don’t know what came over me, I’m clean, and I want to be a family etc. I still don’t know what caused their argument. We were having fun and playing a game and he started yelling and throwing things, he went to hit her and knowing of their past, I immediately went to call the police (thank god I lived across from the police station), but things moved so quickly that next thing, I knew he was dragging her outside by her hair in the middle of winter down a narrow wooden staircase. Would things have played out differently if I didn’t call the police, would have he made it out my back door if I didn’t turn my back, if my sister couldn’t fight him off would I have been able to? These thoughts used to plaque my mind, because my sister and I didn’t have much of a relationship. She resented everyone that was there for not coming to her aid, but I did or so I thought. How was I to defend my sister from a man ten years my elder and much stronger than my sister and I
combined.

So what would have happened if you didn’t jump in front of your sister, if you called the police first? I think you did an amazingly brave thing, coming harms way to protect your sister. Your initial instinct was to protect, I think mine was fear, but if you didn’t have that instinct to protect your sister, she might not be here today. You were her Hero; I apparently was not my sisters!

I apologize for the lengthy response Regards,
Selina