Abby Fitzsimmons interviews her mother, Gale, about the death of Kevin, her son and Abby's brother.
Posted: Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The death of a family member is tragic especially when it occurs around the Holidays, as in the case of the Fitzsimmons family of Yakima. On New Year’s Eve seven and a half years ago they lost their 29 year-old-son, Kevin, who stopped to help a motorist and was killed. In the last Storycorps Wenatchee on Northwest Public Radio daughter Abby interviews her mother, Gale about Kevin’s death.
Abby Fitzsimmons: “How do you think you’re different now than before when we lost Kevin?”
Gale Fitzsimmons: “Kevin had this thing. I don’t recall Kevin every saying this but his dad said he would say, ‘Don’t be a stingy gut.’ I thought oh that’s a terrible thing to say but I can see now after his death we need to share more whether it is our finances or help or telling someone you love them more often. Just don’t be a stingy butt and I have found in myself that I have been that way. Because of my work, I work in a school with ages pre-school up to middle school I found that if a kid has a shoe that needs to be tied or they had an accident some of the other staff wont’ take the time to do it and I do because they need someone there to help take care of them.”
Abby Fitzsimmons: “Do you think that the way he died, because it was him helping someone it is reflective of his life?”
Gale Ftizsimmons: “Absolutely. Absolutely. He was doing what he did best. He was helping someone. He did not hesitate at all to stop and help that man who slid off the road with that ice. Unfortunately, somebody else came along and hit the same ice and killed both him and the man he was helping. It was really reflective. Do you remember how many people came to his funeral? 400 people. Do you remember him telling us that he was going to die young?”
Abby Fitzsimmons: “I don’t.”
Gale Fitzsimmons: “He used to say that a lot in the last five years of his life. He’d say, ‘I’m gonna die young. I’m never going to grow old.’ And after he died I thought, did you know something I didn’t know? Why did you have to do this?”
Abby Ftizsimmons: “I don’t think that he meant it because he had a lot of plans.”
Gale Ftizsimmons: “I think it was probably one of those things he would say to get us to raise our eyebrows and say, ‘Kevin don’t say things like that!’ He did a lot of that.”
Despite her positive attitude, Gale Fitzsimmons says that New Year’s Eve is a difficult and depressing time for her. She is a para-educator and lives in Yakima.
Abby Ftizsimmons is 29, the same age her brother was when he was killed. She often finds herself wanting to call her brother and then realizes he is gone. She lives in Yakima.
Northwest Public Radio would like to thank the Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort and KOHO Radio for their generous support in helping to bring Storycorps to our area.
Copyright 2009 Storycorps/Northwest Public Radio