by Anthonie P. Barrett
As I write this down I am in the mountains that ring the Okanagan Valley with Reece vom Bradford my 119 lbs DDR/East German Working Line Sheperd service dog checking my 75 miles of traps. Hunting, trapping living off the land as they did in bygone eras is not what I thought I would be doing at this point in my life, yet here I am. Let us look back to how an old good for nothing Greyback like me ended up in the land of the Frostbacks.
I was murdered and resurrected on September 11, 2017. A great many people felt and still feel that I had it coming. Perhaps I did and perhaps I did not, the odd thing is if I had it coming why do I still live?
When I look into the mirror an see the scare from where the trauma team repaired my heart and right lung. To know you where dead and with a little help was resurrected it does feed the ego a bit. Yes, I make the joke that I am a Superman, after all, I did stop a speeding bullet, not well but I stopped it dead bang and lived.
The trauma of this nature can drive some to depression, crazy or it can make you stronger. Everyone deals with trauma in different ways. I tend to laugh off my trauma as I feel why should I let it control my life.
Do I have anger for what happened?
Do I have hate for what was done to me?
Do I want revenge against the coward that shot me and the breeder that put the punk up to shoot me?
Hell yes, I do!
It is only natural to have those feelings, but do I let it control me?
No, as they say, the Lord gets everyone in the end.
The wheel turns does it not?
It is the path of recovery that defines what trauma does to a person. We can not let it control us we can, in fact, control it. Ask yourself, what would you do if you had to deal with the aftermath trauma? An how can I help someone who is a victim of trauma?
Anthonie P. Barrett is a master gardener, radio personality, hunter, trapper, published author, murder victim and Florida/United States ExPat living on a 45.46-hectare farmstead in the Okanagan Valley near Kelowna, BC, Canada with his wife Jemzee and their two daughters Alora and Adria Claire. Mr. Barrett was officially dead for 18 mins after being shot point blank in the chest by a coward on Sept 11, 2017, now suffers from heart damage, massive lung damage, brain damage, and PTSD now uses his experience to help and inspire victims of gun violence.