John Atterberry has broken my silence. My close friends and family know how passionate I am about the people I care for.The tragic and senseless murder of a man I have known well over twenty years, has me angry,confused and hurt. John Atterberry from all accounts was a handsome, intelligent, driven, successful man with a great deal of life to live; when a hopeless and weak young man decided he could not go on with his life destroyed John's life. John proved to himself and his peers that he could survive and strive to be the best. Although he had many personal hurdles he did not allow them to change who he was. He was always jovial. I cannot remember him in a bad mood or without a smile on his face. At times he would get on my nerves playing so much when we were kids. But as a man I was more than impressed with the man he developed into. This is not my eulogy of John, I am getting to a point, sorry. I have mentioned my anger regarding my friends death. I am hurt...not because I do not realize none of us are here permanently, but because I wanted to watch him shine! When people die, they leave us here. They go off to a new adventure and leave us here to pick up the pieces they leave behind. When he rushed out, his bed may not have been made, or his dishes were in the sink someone put them away. He may have working on a project that needs his approval or maybe he started a script. Now all those things cannot be completed by him. Tragedy strikes without rhyme or reason, we can only react after he strikes. Prayer and forgiveness are always on the list of things to do, but we all prayed but none of us received the answer we wanted. God knows best, but it's days like this when my faith is truly tested. This feels like a mistake, what possible good could come from such a senseless and devastating act of cowardice?
Unlike John, the shooter did not have hundreds if not thousands of people who loved and respected him. He had not lived long enough to know that the girl was the first in a long list of people who don't want you when your young but catch the "vapors" when you get your shit together like John did. See the sad thing is when you are young you do a bunch of dumb shit you wish you could take back, but this dummy took my friend's life. Every time I loose someone a piece of me goes with them, a laugh I will never share again or a hug from an old friend. John you are not the first but you are the latest on my list of loved ones I wish could have stayed a little while longer. R.I.P JOHN ATTERBERRY 6/11/71-12/11/11
