Reporter’s Note: Recently, the sisters and father of John Eric Mitchell, the 33-year-old man found dead on an embankment near the I-285/Chamblee Dunwoody exit on Aug. 19, contacted Rough Draft. 

The DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed on Sep. 5 that Mitchell died from a drug overdose.

The family said they were estranged from Mitchell because of his erratic behavior and ongoing drug addiction, which began when he was in middle school. They say he grew up in a middle-class family with one older and two younger sisters, and in their words, was afforded every opportunity to turn his life around but the pull of his addiction overpowered their efforts.

The family members said they were unaware of Mitchell’s living circumstances and had no clue about the connections that people in Dunwoody had made with him nor their efforts to feed and clothe him. Mitchell’s father, Eric, said their contact with him, limited to twice a year, was in the form of providing gifts to him on his birthday and around Christmas.

The family shared with Rough Draft remarks they made at a memorial service for Mitchell held in Texas on Aug. 23, as well as personal memories of their difficult relationship with him through his early years into adulthood. The remarks detail a long journey and the strength they found to endure tragedy through prayer and forgiveness.  With their permission, Rough Draft compiled some of their remarks below.

Memories

Emily, 28, John’s younger sister’s Facebook post: My brother was not perfect. He, in fact, made mounds of poor decisions in his life, which ultimately led to his death this week. That didn’t make anything any easier. In fact, I believe it made things harder. My biggest hope in all of this is that someone can be impacted by his life & death and learn from it.

Anna, 30, John’s younger sister’s letter to John:  When we were kids, you were allowed to have a pocket knife, but I wasn’t deemed old enough to have one yet. I remember sitting on our concrete porch in Kentucky around 6 or 7 years old, watching you whittle away at a stick you found that had fallen off our tree in the front yard. It looked like fun, and as a tomboy I wanted to follow my big brother and carve away at one too. I begged our parents to let me, but they said no. You knew this, and so after hours of whittling and carving and putting this together, you surprised me later by giving me that very stick, with my name carved on it, and with a pink ribbon attached. 

In the years that followed, I hung it on one of my bed posts. When you were in turmoil, it was a reminder to me to pray for you. 

Emily: John’s life was full of hope. It was full of people who loved and cared about him. John was a healthy and normal kid in a loving Christian family. He had a normal upbringing with love and friendship.  He was smart, like insanely smart. And I mean book-smart and street-smart. He was charismatic and as he matured into a young man, he became truly handsome. 

Nothing about his young life would lead you to believe he would turn out to be a homeless drug addict living on the side of the highway. 

Anna: Through all the pain and sorrow there has been peace. For whether you were created as a vessel of honorable or dishonorable use, your life had purpose. Without you, I would have never known what it was to have a big brother. What it was to concoct stink bombs in the kitchen, place whoopee cushions on chairs, have beanie baby fights until we had to stop because someone got hurt, play Cowboys and Indians, shoot a slingshot, be competitive at board games and eventually win.

I would have never known what it was to enjoy watching and playing sports, especially baseball, because I loved watching you play baseball. Or how to build the biggest snowman there ever was with strategic forts for epic snowball fights, play war, or play various video games like Donkey Kong, pod racing, Super Mario Bro, Animal Crossing, and Halo. 

I would have not listened to as much, or perhaps any, current music without you because you convinced me to ask for an iPod for Christmas and downloaded everything for me, adding a mix of music you picked and things you thought I would like. 

The lessons they learned

Anna: Even out of difficult circumstances, because of you, I learned how to tell the truth from a lie, how to take responsibility when you didn’t, how to survive when abandoned, neglected, or ignored. How to stick up for myself when there was no one there to stick up for me. I learned how to be bold, shed light on uncomfortable things, and how to endure the deepest darkness, suffering, and pain. 

The truths they hold close

Anna: You didn’t know all the ways you had hurt me or our family, because you were hurting yourself. But you did on occasion have some self-awareness. After going to a garage sale, and for my birthday one year, you bought me this cannon. You placed it on my desk, pointed it at your bedroom and said, “It’s so you can pretend to shoot cannonballs at me whenever I do something to make you mad at me.” 

Emily: There is no more time for John. He cannot go back in time and change his decisions. But his life and choices can impact others.

My first instinct was to say this: Hold your people close, forgive, love, pray, and push into the peoples lives of those you love even when they push you away. In fact, Push even harder when they push you away. And talk. Genuinely, unapologetically, talk honestly with those you love about your fears, concerns, love, and hardships. 

Your kids are around it or around people experimenting with it. Every. Single. Day. I don’t know what this means we should do or how we can stop it. All I know is that the devil is working and drugs are a big way in which he captures and destroys lives and families. 

I say all of this as a reminder, wake up call, or encouragement. I hope in some way the story of John’s life will impact people for the better.