Forever27

Hi friends. Sorry for the massive delay in this post, life got kinda crazy and this story is hard to write. But as promised, here is the story of why we are called forever27.  

This story is about my big brother.  

You see, my brother, Josh, was an addict, but he was so much more than that too, but everyone stopped seeing who he really was when he started doing drugs. He was the life of every party. He had the biggest heart. He had the brightest smile, even when it didn’t quite meet his eyes. He was absolutely goofy and one of the funniest people on this earth. He was a hardcore cereal lover, specifically cinnamon toast crunch. He was a coalminer, just like our dad. He was an Army Veteran. He was a dad to two beautiful little girls whom he loved with his whole heart. He was a son, grandson, brother, cousin, and friend. He had his soulmate, whether they admitted it or not (iykyk). My brother was my best friend, and I miss him every day.  

I had dropped him off on November 2^nd at rehab and he was so excited. He really felt like this one was going to work. Two days later he had a stroke due to what they thought was a blood clot on his brain. We drove the two hours to the hospital he was at, and they told us that what they thought was the blood clot was actually a vegetation. Due to years of IV drug use, he had developed endocarditis and was unaware. This caused vegetations on his heart and one had broken off and traveled up his brain stem. They decided to put him on a blood thinner to make sure he didn’t clot around the vegetation. What they didn’t know was an aneurysm was hiding behind it, and it burst due to the blood thinner. As soon as it burst his brain stem was immediately filled with blood which essentially killed him then, but they put him on life support. My parents and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to take him off of life support; we knew he wouldn’t want to “live” like that. On November 6, 2022, Josh’s heart quit beating at 3:57 pm at the age of 27.  

Josh had gone to our local ERs a few times in the months before he died, with what we now know were symptoms of endocarditis. Unfortunately, he was not taken seriously and was seen as drug seeking. They told him to drink water and to see his PCP, which he obviously did not have. I am not putting this tidbit in here to bash our hospitals specifically. I am saying that if you who are reading this is a healthcare provider in any way, please take ALL your patient complaints seriously, no matter who or what they are. I am also saying that if you are addict having medical issues and not being taken seriously, take someone with you to fight for you if you can. Fight for yourself as much as you can because you deserve to be taken care of just like anyone else.  

I grieved my brother long before he was dead. I grieved who he used to be and who he was supposed to be. I always knew in my heart he would die young, but for those few days, I genuinely had hope that I was wrong. I prayed for God to heal him for years and break those chains of addiction. I was SO angry at God for not doing that and for taking him from us. After the initial anger, I realized that God did exactly what I asked for, just not in the way I wanted him to. My brother is healed, he is whole, and he is living his best life in heaven. I stopped asking God why and started saying thank you. Instead of asking him why he took him so young I thanked him for the 27 years he was on this earth, for the 22 I got to spend with him. It wasn’t easy, and it still isn’t. There are days where I still get angry, but I have tried to make myself understand that I am allowed to be angry and that I’m not actually supposed to understand why he’s gone.  

Josh really had true aspirations for life, both before and during his time as an addict. He always wanted to get sober and go to college. He wanted to write a book, which is where I am coming in. I thought several times I would write a book about his life, but I will not tell his whole story, because I don’t know all of it and even if I did, it isn’t my story to tell. I will, however, do what he would want me to do and help people. So, that’s what this is. The blog is for me to share my life stories, honor my brother, and spread the word of God.  

Joshua Brett is why this blog is named Forever27.  

If you are grieving, please know it’s okay to be angry.  

If you are struggling with addiction, please know there is help and there is hope.  

If you need prayer or help, please email me at forever27.net@gmail.com