The devastating and challenging event that affected my life and forced me to change my perspective of life was the tragic accidental death of my older brother in a car crash on the night of the New Year. On that night our family was packing bags to go on a short holiday which we had planned out for few weeks. My brother had left the house in the afternoon on that day to buy a gift for his son from a retail store and on the way back his car was hit by a drunk driver who missed out a traffic light and did not see my brother’s car coming from the side lane. The family was informed about my brother’s death late at night when a telephone call was made by a traffic warden. This news came as a shock for us and I stood by the telephone for sometime allowing my mind to regain its senses. My brother who had been there for me throughout my tough times was no longer between us and his absence still seemingly untrue overwhelmed my thoughts. A fatherly figure in my life was no more and I was surely going to miss him.
For many sleepless nights I was up thinking about the harsh reality of life and realizing the responsibility that has been put on my shoulders after his death. I was only 21 at the time and recently graduated in computer sciences from a university. With my brother’s sudden death I was faced with a challenge to take on a responsible position in the family business which was looked after by my brother and my father had taken his retirement leave from the business and there was no one else to manage the business.
The responsibility in hand seemed unreachable and unmanageable with no prior professional experience and knowledge of the family business. However, to continue with family finances and ensuring a secured future for my nephew who was in his school going age I accepted the challenge and decided to join the office. The first day at the office as the company’s director proved that it is not going to be an easy task as my brother’s absence had left many taunting decisions to be taken which included redundancy of IT engineers and support staff. The company’s finances also had to be restructured because banks have raised concerns regarding the future of IT business.
Initially, I ordered a report of the company’s pending service projects due for completion in the coming months and years. This report included a list of employees allocated to these projects. After careful examination of time schedules and staff requirements a list of employees no longer adding to the value of the business were given early redundancy notices with promise of three month’s salary to be paid in advance. Furthermore, renewals of contracts with existing clients were reassured and copies of renewal contracts were submitted to banks to ensure that their financing to the company continues. Both issues were eventually resolved and the company was back on its course of delivering complex IT solutions to its clients. The strong determination to support the family, my belief in well known saying that implies that every time you get up after falling to the ground is the key to success (Heng-Heng) and willingness to accept daring business tasks helped me achieve goals which could not have been possible without the guidance of my brother.
Looking back now after so many years I still miss my brother and it was his support and guidance in my early years of life that helped me to become a responsible human being and I was able to support my family after non-recoverable loss of a son, a brother, a husband and above all a dear father.
Works Cited
Heng-Heng. 2009. “The Challenge Of Life”. SiuTao. 8 March 2009 <http://english.siutao.com/rivulets/the_challenge_of_life.php>.
Rosenblatt, Shaul. Finding Light in the Darkness: The Toughest Challenges and how to Grow from Them. Southfield: Targum Press, 2006.
