WEEK 48: MY TRUTH by STEVE HADDOCK

Truth: a fact or belief that is accepted as true
 
My parents taught my sisters and I at a very young age, the importance of always speaking the truth.  They shared with us that living truth is one of the most important traits of a person, as it speaks to their character and integrity.  Truth is a trait that doesn’t require any super powers, it’s a universal characteristic understood by everyone, no matter what language you speak, the country you live in, your age, your gender, or IQ.  Truth does not discriminate. 
 
Last week was the 28th anniversary of my mother’s death.  I was 17 years old and my sisters were 12 and 16, and this was the day we started our journey with truth. 
 
Our mother was murdered in the confines of our very own home, while we were at school.  My sisters got off the bus that afternoon to find our mother bludgeoned to death in our garage.  We were united with our father, where we tried to find the truth with limited facts and the realization of what just happened.  Seven days later after losing our mother, our father was arrested for the murder of our mother.
 
Over the next 22 years, my siblings and I fought in faith with our father for the truth to prevail and for his innocence to shine through.  This included three different courthouses, 5 prisons, 2 parole hearings, newspapers, tv interviews, and countless attorneys, including the famous Barry Scheck and his innocence foundation.  Our belief and faith in our father had us fighting for the truth to prove his innocence.  We clung with all our energy and might for the truth to prevail.
 
Our dad has since been released on parole for the past six years. He was greeted by all his children with all the love and support (emotional, practical, financial, etc) we had to give and did so with joyous hearts. He quickly returned to the same man that he was before, one focused on work, money, superficial trappings. As our disappointment grew from all his broken promises and his own complicated and flawed humanity, we began to question all the truths we had believed and fought so hard for nearly three decades. In the end, the acts as we knew them and the truth we so desperately fought to believe came crashing down as doubt, deceit, untruths, broken trust, and ultimately, broken relationships.
 
Today he is a very small part of my life and has been completely eliminated by my sisters, as we have come to grips that our TRUTH has changed and the facts of that November day will likely never be known to us while on earth. Now as I ponder the definition of truth, I see the meaning completely anew.  While the one thing I seek more than anything in this world is confirmation of what really happened on November 20th, 1992.  But in our heart of hearts we have come to grips with the fact that life can and must continue with joy, even without the truth in hand.
 
Through this tragic experience, I have learned there never is just one truth. We all share truth and any given situation is complicated by multiple truths.  Striving, reaching, praying, being held accountable, teaching, understanding, listening, and being compassionate to truth is a long and arduous journey and not without pain, but there is freedom in truth and that is my hope for all of you.
 
This is my truth.
 
Steve Haddock is the father of 3 amazing boys and married to his beautiful wife, Brooke Roberts Haddock.  We love everything about living in Colorado with the mountains, the rivers, the wildlife, and our 24 family members living in the same city.  Steve is the VP of Sales for a software company in Denver.

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