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reprinted from the U of M Diamondback.... |
Nov 10, 2004
Lingering sorrow
Two years after their son was killed, the Malstroms
continue to grieve
By Julie Dietrick
Senior Staff Writer
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About
once a week, Brandon Malstrom's mother vacuums and dusts his room.
Occasionally she makes his bed if his friends spend the night at the
house. But making his bed after they visit is the closest the Malstroms
get to their son.
Two
years ago today, Brandon, a 20-year-old operations and quality
management major who would have graduated in December, was stabbed to
death at a post-Homecoming party on Dickinson Avenue. But sitting
on the porch of the Phoenix, Md., home where the university junior grew
up, his father says it still feels like it happened yesterday. |
Carol and Bill Malstrom hold a high school photo of their slain son
Brandon at their home in Phoenix, Md. CHRIS LAUBER - THE DIAMONDBACK
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"There's the outward perception that people see, which is that we are
able to function on a daily basis and we are getting along well," his
father, Bill Malstrom, said. "But then there's the harsh reality we
still face every day - that it isn't much easier now than it was then."
He speaks about his son more easily than in the first year after
Brandon's death, but he insists the battles haven't become any easier.
"We've pretty much forced ourselves in a lot of the things we do," he
said. "Going to our house in Ocean City - where Brandon lived the last
two summers [before he died] - is an obstacle. Little things have been
an obstacle. We have to force ourselves to do routine things."
For Bill, the second anniversary of his son's murder is still a
challenge, still a battle and today he will be "more reserved, more
subdued and a little less out there" at his job and with his friends.
But during a benefit concert for their son inside Santa Fe Cafˇ
Saturday night, the scene was different, the atmosphere more relaxed and
Bill Malstrom was anything but subdued.
The Malstrom family dances to music performed by Bill's band, Gram
Positive, which he joined shortly after his son's death. Some of his
friends take shots in Brandon's honor.
This year, following a candlelight vigil, instead of playing the
tearful song written in memory of Brandon by a local band, Bill jumps
onto the stage and begins to auction off donated items - a Weber Grille
and an Amstel Light mirror, to name a few - to generate money for the
Brandon James Malstrom Memorial Foundation. The Malstrom family set up
the charity to collect money for a scholarship in Brandon's name. Since
Brandon's murder, the scholarship has become the family's outlet, their
way of making sure their son lives on after his death. Bill's band has
also been a way for him to vent, and tonight he looks completely at ease
in a white tank top, jeans and a backwards baseball cap, joking with the
crowd as he auctions off a Jack Daniels cooler.
"This is definitely Bill at his best," said Tim Barrow, a family
friend whose son grew up with Brandon. "It seems like it's getting a
little better year by year. I guess time heals wounds, or at least as
much as it can, I guess."
At his worst, Bill's sadness becomes anger - at the city of College
Park for not improving safety and at the acquittal of the two men
accused of killing Brandon; they were instead each sentenced to 13 years
in prison for lesser charges.
"I can't get revenge for Brandon's death; I'm not allowed to get
revenge for Brandon's death. The only way I can get any kind of peace or
consolation is that as long as I'm around, these guys are never going to
get out from under the fact that they contributed to Brandon's murder,"
he said. "Take any of them out of the equation and Brandon's alive
today.
"Since the courts elected not to believe blood evidence, not to
believe testimony from Prince George's County ... My only recourse is
civil action. I don't expect to see any money out of this," he said.
His anger at the city has made it tough for the family to return. He
said this might be the last memorial concert at Santa Fe because of the
difficult memories and the sadness he encounters from seeing students.
For Brandon's brother, Bill, who was with his brother during the fight
that led to his death, the trip to College Park has already become too
much - he couldn't make it to Brandon's memorial concert.
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