Big Brother’s Point of View
When I came home from Iraq, I did not know what to do. I was on some pretty heavy pain relievers for my injuries. I came home to a mom and a younger brother who wanted to do anything they could for me. It looked like I would be getting a medical discharge. I hoped not as I wanted to make a career out of the Army.
I got depressed when the medical discharge came through. I wanted to fight it, but the doctors said they would not sign off on returning me to active duty. I began taking the pain relievers more than I should, but they were helping me to forget, at least for a little while until they wore off again.
My mom catered to me. She tried to make me comfortable and do things for me but I just yelled at her to leave me alone. She tried to approach me about the prescription medication I was taking when she figured out I was taking too much. I told her to mind her own business. I had never talked to my mom like that as a kid and I know she was confused and hurt, but I was too busy trying to figure out how to keep the medication coming and feeling sorry for myself.
Most of my wounds healed, but the memories didn’t. I found myself feeling more and more sorry for myself and thinking everything was all about me. Every time my mom tried to get me to do something I would just tell her to leave me alone. One day she told me I needed to get on with my life because I had survived for a reason. Then I did the unthinkable. I hit my mom. I did not intend to and I never would have thought it was possible, but I just wanted to be left alone in my medication-endorsed misery.
My younger brother jumped up and got between us. He had gotten taller than me over the last year or so. He looked me in the eye and said “I love you, but you will never touch our mom again, do you understand me? You will get help today or you will leave. Now be the man I know you are and let’s get you some help. I want my brother back.”
As our roles reversed that day, I found a new hero. My brother saved my life, my self-respect and my relationship with both him and our mom.
