Bitter Sweet

Today is a bitter sweet day. Not only is it one of my luckiest days(I was born on Friday the 13th) of the year,but it is also my deceased cousin's birthday. Five years ago my cousin, Christopher, was gunned down on the streets of South West Detroit. He was twenty-nine years old and a father of four little girls. My heart hurts and I tear up thinking about why he was murdered. He was killed for his jacket. A 250 dollar jacket was the price of my cousin's life. Everytime I think about what happened my heart ache turns to sorrow, then to anger, and then to rage. I just cannot understand why people do the things they do. Do people even think about the consequences of their actions and the people affected by them? Detroit is one of the most violent cities in the nation and it has taken a lot from me, not just my cousin, but my father, and a dear family friend as well.At times I want to rage against the city, but I can't because it is not the city, but the people in it that do these things. I am from Detroit and it will forever be my home town, but Detroit has lost it's soul. Blood spills the streets of Detroit and often the blood of the innocent. I won't lie my cousin was not innocent. He lived a hard life. He was a "gang banger",but he was a good person, a very good person.He cared for those who he loved and I couldn't have asked for a better person to have been able to call family. I love you Bub and I miss you dearly. God rest your soul.

"How many brothaz fell victim to these streetz...

Rest in peace young n***a, there's a Heaven for a 'G'

be a lie if I told ya, I never thought about death,

my n***as we the last one's left

but life goes on..."

Tupac Shakur "Life Goes On."