Eugene you were a beautiful person. I remember holding you when you were just a baby. I also remember some the abuse you endured growing up. We didn't get to be around each other a lot. You lived with our father and your mother in one state and I with my mother in another.

I remember visiting once a year and saw how cruel our father was to you. I was just a child (8-11 yrs)so I believed there was nothing I could do to stop it. There were other adults around all the time and they didn't try to stop it either. I never thought to speak up because I was scared. Fast forward 3 yrs and I am there on a "trial basis" to see if I can live there. I ask my father's girlfriend (yes she lived there as well as my stepmother and it was acceptable to them) if I could give her son a bath. She says yes and reminds me that he has tubes in his ears and that he needs ear plugs put in. You asked if you could help me. I say sure and forget about the ear plugs. I remember them only after we had him in the tub. I asked you to get them for me and you said you didn't know where they were. So I asked you to watch the baby while I go and get them. Long story short, baby wiggles and slipped in the tub getting his ears wet. I should have been the one in trouble. Instead, our father blamed you saying you did it on purpose. We are all stood in a line, all 4 of us, and each of us are handed the belt and told to spank you while you were bent over a chair I think. I broke down and cried refusing to to it and stating I should be in your place. Because I did refuse our father gave you an extra one for me!