2 lives cut short & 1 forever changed

It was summer...July 1997
I remember the day vividly
My family was living in University Park
Part of the Park Cities, Highland Park
Population of about 5,000 residents
A small suberb of Dallas, TX
It was called "the bubble"
A reclusive neighborhood
Where the average house
Cost over half a million
A safe, family neighborhood
Kids were allowed outside
After dark, unsupervised
Rich Suburbia USA

I do not recall exactly what alerted us
Of the crowd gathering a block away
All the neighbors talked to each other
Word spread in seconds in the bubble
Anyway my dad and I were home alone
And both walked around the block
To see what all the hype was about

As soon as we rounded the corner
The crowd was visible, as was the police tape
I knew the house quite well
I used to babysit for the family who lived there
And had moved out a year or so before
I had no clue who had moved in
And how closely connected I would be
To the tragedy that occurred hours earlier

A suicide, maybe a murder
Was word on the streets
Not too unfamiliar
It was a rental house
A few years back, another rental
Directly behind our house
A woman known affectionately
In the 'hood as "the crazy lady"
Because she always thru out cool stuff
Like fully new, unused stuff
We loved trash can shopping
Behind her house

Anyway this lady, married, just had a baby
One night saw car lights thru her window
As the word on the street went
She killed herself and the baby
Allegedly thinking someone was after them
It was all the hype, no one knew them
And the 'parkies' as they were called
Loved the goss -- especially about things unknown
The house remained vacant for a year
Then was torn down, rebuilt, and sold

We returned home, pretty much unfazed
Unfazed compared to what soon was clear
Not two hours later, we were all home
My mom came and told us something happened
A VP at my dad's company is coming over
And we must stay upstairs and out of the way

Moments later the front door opened
The 3 brothers Taylor of course
Were peaking down, out of sight
At the entry hall, dying 2 know
My dad entered with a familiar man
A man way too familiar, to just be a work guy
Clutching a framed picture, beyond tears
It hit me, like a ton of bricks how I knew this man

I had babysat for his 2 kids the summer before
2 beautiful, crazy energetic kids at his condo
He was divorced and had them for the summer
Hired me to watch them while he worked days
All summer long I spent with them, a boy & girl
The boy was about 8 or 9, the girl 6 or 7
It was one of the most fun summers of my life
Not only because of the abundance of cash
In my young, never full pocket
But we would have so much fun
Everyday stuck in the condo
Doing practically nothing
Hours and hours of fun

Still the details were fuzzy as hell
And with my parents remained that way
For quite some time
Bits and pieces being leaked out
Over the next few days
The house around the corner
His ex-wife had rented

It was he who came to pick up the kids
That awful day in July where we all gathered
He who called 911 pleading, crying hysterically
Found his son first murdered, cuts from a knife
Unsure where his ex-wife and daughter were
How exactly the aftermath played out
Is still a mystery, and rightfully so I think now
Later the police found his ex-wife and daughter
Both dead from knife lacerations
Apparently blood was tracked all thru the home

According to the police chief, in the news paper
University Park averages 2-3 homicides a year
We found out -- much to all of the neighbors shock
This was the first of '97 lil' chiefy was quoted saying
How fucking insensitive I thought then, and now
Although he followed that up with a quote about
What a tragedy 4 all, UP hadn't seen anything like this b4
The Dallas Coroner ruled it a double murder-suicide
Due to "multiple sharp-force injuries"

My parents hid all the press, we couldn't watch TV
But I ended up finding it all eventually, some yrs later
In hindsight, I wish I hadn't read so much detail
Half a dozen suicide notes found all over the house
Transcripts of the 911 call, descriptions of the scene
Horrific, awful details no one should know
Especially someone close to those involved

The mourning father spent a lot of time at our house
Over the next week or so, the kids upstairs always
The adults downstairs doing god knows what
However even as a young kid, barely double digits
I could feel the horrible, dark, sad energy in the house
That never seemed to leave forever after
Not that future events within the family didn't help
To add to that potently awful feeling
Even friends commented about my house having

I was not allowed to go to the funeral, my moms orders
I was told seeing me was a constant reminder of the kids
The kids alive, happy, on and on so I did not go
Something to this day I often wonder if I had
Would I still be so immersed in this 10 year old incident
It took me years after when I'd go up to the office
To be able to go into my dad's colleague's office & say hello
I didn't want to trigger him or make him sadder than he already must be

I still think about him almost daily, the kids faces remain in my brain forever
Images so clear its as if it's their actual pictures are in front of me
I wonder what would have happened to them, what they would have become
They'd be out of high school now; moving onward and upward I'm sure
I think of their father equally often, so curious about how he is doing
My dad is a very stoic unemotional man -- u pick ur touchy topics with him
I think I recall years ago bringing up the subject and heard he was engaged
Trying to start over a new, I imagined

Since my dad's interest in the company were dissolved
And I doubt, but don't know, if he still keeps in touch
Nor would I dare bring this up -- I already have enough 2 struggle thru w/ him
But I have faith and hope that my powerful, positive thoughts
I'm constantly sending his way reach him successfully
And that he's has nothing but the best things in life
Going on for him now, as I know he'll never forget
That hot muggy July afternoon
And his two beautiful babies
Gone now forever

Sending out PEACE & LIGHT to all tonight...