Talked to Brenda today and she is very shaken and happy to be alive. She is stunned that her own son would shoot her.
After hearing more of the story, I was surprised that she was surprised. Turns out Brenda's ex-husband was both verbally and physically abusive. He, himself, would sometimes draw a gun and threaten Brenda (he never shot her tho). This went on for 17 years, all the time junior was growing up that was the role model dear old Dad presented him with.
Then to put the icing on the cake, junior suffered a major head injury in a car wreck when he was 16. He is currently on disability because of the lasting effects of this old injury.
Brenda couldn't support him on her salary and wanted him to leave. But he was perfectly happy getting a free air conditioned apartment complete with crunchies, cable TV, internet, and computer games. No way was he gonna leave. He snapped. He'd rather shoot Mom than leave.
Brenda was in surgery for 14 hours! The bullet barely missed her spinal cord but did go through one of her lungs, her kidney, and her liver. She has a very long recovery ahead of her - both emotionally and physically.
I feel so bad that I just minded my own business when I heard the altercation. I could have saved Brenda much grief if only I'd called 911 when I first heard the fight break out. Its so hard to know what the right thing to do is sometimes.
