Remember Me
Remember Me Derrick, my favorite cousin, was a senior at UT with a promising future as a football player. At the vibrant age of twenty, Derrick started feeling sick all the time. Every month a different condition seemed to be affecting Derrick. At a routine visit to the doctor, Derrick was informed by his family physician that he had AIDS; the words seem to reverberate throughout the room. Derrick was in shock and did not seem to hear anything after that. In the beginning, Derrick dealt with one medical condition after another. He seemed to forever be in the hospital almost every month. Then his condition took an unfortunate turn for the worse. Derrick’s body started deteriorating; he was in excruciating pain all the time, even when he was hospitalized. Derrick wanted to die with dignity and have a sense closure to his life. He did not want a painful death, nor did he want to be a burden to his family.