R.I.P. 1959-2007
I found out today that my cousin, Edmund Rodriguez, Jr., passed away on Thursday. He was 47 years old and would’ve turned 48 in two weeks.
We weren’t as close as we could’ve been for several reasons. Both our families were a bit dysfunctional when we were growing up. My mother was a Jehovah’s Witness and wanted to keep me away from our “worldly” relatives. He spent a lot of time drinking and doing drugs. Our paths didn’t cross much.
As adults, our paths crossed a bit more, usually revolving around the fulcrum of drugs/recovery. At one point we were both not using drugs and attending 12-step recovery meetings. Then he relapsed and I attempted to get him back “on the path.” He was in and out of “the program” for the rest of his life.
From 1997-1999 I lived in Miami Beach, FL and my cousin lived on the west coast. Jupiter, FL, I think. He visited me on South Beach a few times. I was using drugs recreationally again at that point and we partied a few times together, but he was way too extreme for me. One night he ditched me in a club and when I found him he was totally wasted on ketamine. I threw him in a cab and got him home. He never knew when to call it a night and was extreme in all that he did.
Although we didn’t spend a whole lot of time together, I’ll miss him. Although he often called me when he was drunk and rambled on for hours, I’ll miss him. He died alone, as far as I know, no close family by his side. His mother is still alive and living in Florida. His dad passed away around 10 or 11 years ago.
I know that a lot of how he lived his life had to do with his brokenness. He was a wounded person that bore a lot of pain. As a teen he attended a small Assemblies of God church in West New York, NJ where we both grew up during the “Jesus People Movement.” He says he received Jesus as his savior at that time. This is one of those times I’m hoping the Calvinists are right and that he is now in the arms of Jesus, in peace at last.
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I knew your cousin as my water guy. He was a larger than life character who will be missed. He made a cold call to me to try and sell me a water system which I bought. After he came to the house and did his selling demo I said where do I sign?
My kids remember him saying that his nieces and nephews called him uncle meatball and space mountain. He made them laugh. After he left, my husband confided that he recognized Eddie from AA meetings. Although they were few. Eddie and I hit it off and he always had a story or three to tell me. He confided in me that he had a cancerous condition and he told me that if he were to die then he had no regrets because he had lived three lifetimes in his one.I spoke to him last when he was in the hospital sometime in July. When I didn’t get a return call I figured he had passed. I am sorry to have missed the opportunity to say goodbye. I will keep him in my memory and send prayers out to his mother and you. He left a smile on my face.