Root Causes Are Still Coloniser Kryptonite

A new edit of an old story, because it continues to play out.

My cousin was murdered when he was 23 years old, while he was serving in Iraq.

After being given this news, I experienced events unfolding through a haze of grief so deep I still fight for breath when I remember how it felt. I stopped feeling alive. I didn’t feel alive again for a long time. I am terrified of losing loved ones unexpectedly due to the PTSD that has lived in my mindbody since that day.

My last communication with him was on valentines day. I said he should run away. That we could run away together and open a bar called Pedro’s. I have no idea why I chose the name Pedro, I think I just liked it. He laughed and told me he loved me.

A month later, the UK invaded Iraq. Three months after that, Ben was dead.

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