Adventurous, charming, adaptable, genuine, comical
Jasmine remembers her big brother Kelly with deep fondness. He was kind-hearted, charismatic, and comical. When he wasn’t teasing her as big brothers do, he was a deeply caring brother who listened, shared, and had an omniscience about him that was rare for someone his age. Jasmine misses his advice most of all. He knew exactly what to say whenever she needed to hear it. One day when she was driving Kelly to an errand, the subject of being gay came up, and he said, “I don’t care who you love. As long as that person can put a smile on your face and make you want to love life, in my book, you’ve won!” It took 20 years for Jasmine to come “out” but hearing that beforehand heartwarming. She came out in 2023, so she was never able to come out to Kelly, but those words will stay with her forever.
Jasmine asked a few family members to share their favorite memories about Kelly.
Aunt Marién Negrette: “My favorite memory with Kelly is teaching him a curse word in Spanish. Kelly then went to Grandma Vicky and asked her: “Hey, what does this word mean?” Only for my mom to snap back around and say: ‘STOP TEACHING HIM THESE WORDS!’ Then Kelly and cried with laughter!”
Victor Irizarry (Kelly’s dad): “One of my favorite memories with Kelly was when we drove back from Huntsville just me and him in the car and we used to play “I spy with my little eye” for an hour until he fell asleep. Taking him to Disney for the first time was another one of my favorites. When I told him that I worked for the mouse and I knew Mickey and wanted him to meet him, he did not sleep that night.”
Elaine Phillips (TT- Kelly’s grandmother): “I used to go to yard sales, and buy kid’s books. I found two for Kelly…One was BACK HOW PIG. Paw-Paw and I read that to Kelly so many times. The other one was IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE. That was one very busy mouse that kept the little boys in the story as busy as he did us. “
Kelly had a previous girlfriend who wrote this: “He spoke so often of his younger sister Jasmine, how he wanted to spend more time with her. And he thought very highly of his mom. He called her his best friend. It was alluring to meet a guy like Kelly who was so loving toward his family. He radiated compassion. I believe his (substance use disorder) was the farthest thing from who he was. The man I met was enjoying life as his best self in sobriety. But when he (relapsed)… I had to let him go.”
When Kelly was using drugs, it put a brick wall between him and his family. He became violent, even to the point of walking around the house with a knife. At one point, Jasmine slept with the door locked and barricaded because she was so scared of what he might do. Today she has more understanding about addiction and is trained in administering opioid reversal drugs. She gives them out for free. End Overdose is one charity she loves supporting. She misses Kelly every day.
Kelly’s sister Jasmine Hudson, his aunt, grandmother, father, and former girlfriend, provided information for this narrative.
April 24, 1998-December 23, 2021-Age 23
Portrait Artist: Jeremy Hebbel
Narrative Writer: Lynn McKnight
