My uncle was my mom's younger brother. He died on March 19, 1981, of a choking accident.
It was provoked by the fact that he was taking several drugs to help him recover from an addiciton to several drugs including cocaine, coedine, and marijuana. He was under a doctor's care and taking valium, diazepam, and methadone. He had been drinking that day and when he came home from work, he fell asleep while eating. Because of the mixture of the alcohol and the drugs in his system, he never woke up. Instead he began choking on his own vomit. His mother, my grandmother, found him vomiting and turning blue. He was pronounced DOA at a local hospital. He was only twenty-six years old.
I believe firmly that the lesson behind my uncle's death was never to abuse drugs. I am now thirty years old. I was four at the time of his death. I have had a lot of problems in my life, but I must admit, I have never, never, turned to drugs, illegal or legal. Deep down inside I knew that if I died the way he did, it would kill my parents. My cousin says, "There is a lesson in every death." I believe the lesson here is that drugs don't solve your problems, they only make more problems.
May my uncle Earl rest in peace...