Sometimes the Darkest Paths Can
Lead to the Brightest Places
The story of Rosalie Quimby
by Emily Kopp
Even bad times have scientific value. They are occasions that strong and good learners do not miss. Rosalie Quimby is a strong, tough, kindhearted woman who has lived a life full of stories worth sharing. Sometimes as humans we have to endure tragedy and pain that feels as though our hearts will forever be broken. Rosalie has felt, seen, heard, and lived this kind of pain. However, it was the same pain that once broke her that taught her a lesson, too. She learned how tough she was, she learned to find beauty even in the simplest of things, and she learned that her daughter was a true blessing. Even though it may not have felt like it, she had all the strength she needed to smile again.
Rosalie had just started her new job at Sikorsky in Connecticut, a company she would give 21 years of her life to. Just three months into this new stage of her life someone introduced her son to cocaine. This young man named Butch, who was extremely near and dear to Rosalie, took his own life when he was just 20 years old. Butch was tall and slender. The girls liked him and he liked the girls. The pain of a mother losing a child is unbearable. Rosalie had given this boy life, a love unlike any other. When all of that was taken away she had this feeling of rage which became so natural. She was no longer who she once was. She went to the doctors for chest pain, but her blood pressure was perfect. The doctor knew she was still reacting to the loss. Her heart was still hurting a sort of pain that only time can heal. It would be three years until Rosalie would smile again without feeling guilty.
Rosalie never believed in ghosts until two incidents occurred when the hairs on her arms stood straight up and her heart beat a little faster. She could just feel that her son was with her. The first was New Year's Eve night. She had come home from the neighbors' quite late and her husband was already sleeping. She lay down, just about to fall asleep when all of a sudden she heard the footsteps of Butch and his favorite cowboy boots. A loud thud, thud, thud, a noise which was once so familiar. She braced herself, not making a sound, not even breathing, waiting to hear them pass her bedroom and continue to her son's room, but they didn’t. Just near the kitchen the sound stopped and disappeared. She exhaled and her body relaxed into a deep sleep. The next day, she sat with her husband, son Sean, and daughter Pam after breakfast enjoying the calmness of the morning and the joy of each others' company. The little things. She told them what she had heard the night before, the heavy footsteps of Butch and how they suddenly disappeared. Her son Sean was in complete shock. He immediately explained to the family that he too thought he heard Butch come home last night and climb into the top bunk. This touching New Year's Eve night brought just a little more peace to the Quimby family.
The second time Rosalie felt her son with her was just an ordinary day, and her ride home from work was just like any other. That was until she all of a sudden got goosebumps on her arms and the hairs stood straight up just as they had New Year's Eve night. She felt like Butch was sitting right next to her in the passenger's seat, like she could reach over and feel his strong arm. She said something to him and the feeling went away. Signs like these are sent from heaven, reminding Rosalie and her family that they are always surrounded by Butch's love.
As if the loss of Butch was not already enough pain for Rosalie, Sean, her youngest son, also committed suicide at the age of 40. These devastating actions have torn Rosalie apart, but it’s the fight she put herself through to pick herself back up that has made her who she is today.
Have you ever heard the saying, “the happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts?” For Rosalie this was key. She focused on the great things in her life that made her happy, especially the little things that can sometimes bring the most joy to a person's life. Rosalie’s daughter, Pam, is not only her beloved daughter, but also her greatest achievement. “I want to be as good as a person as Pam is,” Rosalie says. The Quimby family never said “I love you” to each other. Not because they didn’t love each other it just wasn’t something they did until Pam’s senior year of high school. She had already lost both her brothers and if there was one thing she wanted her family to know at the end of each day it was