Adam Tuss, wtop.com

A Family Still Grieves

WASHINGTON – For the families of those who died on June 22, 2009, nothing about the past year has been normal

“I never wish this on anyone, because it is something no one should ever have to go through,” says Kenneth Hawkins, the brother of Dennis Hawkins, who was killed in the crash.

“It is an emotional roller coaster.”

Hawkins says he has been able to come to terms with the death of his brother, but other family members have not. Dennis left behind a father, three brothers and three sisters.

“Some are still in that grieving stage. Some have not come to that acceptance phase.”

So is the Hawkins family upset with Metro?

“Yes,” says Kenneth. “Because they feel that no one has done anything, and in reality, they haven’t.”

“There’s really been no embracing of the families (by Metro) to work with the families over these last 12 months,” says Hawkins. “As soon as the funerals were over, there was no follow up from them.”

So far, he says Metro has only helped with travel expenses for Dennis’ funeral.

As far as a memorial service that Metro will hold at the Fort Totten Station on Tuesday, Hawkins says it was an afterthought.

“They didn’t really have anything (planned), we had to push them.”

Sitting in the lobby of his apartment building in Southwest, Hawkins takes a moment to reflect on everything that has happened over the past year.

“It’s like we’ve been forgotten. Not only by Metro, but the city has forgotten, the president has forgotten — and I say that because this happened in his own back yard.”

“We’re upset. We’ve seen the embracement the president has given the families of the West Virginia coal mine, and the Louisiana gulf oil spill. He expressed his sympathy and prayers in a press release on that night (of the crash) — but nothing else. It’s kind of like a slap in the face to say — do we really count? How are we different from the other families?”

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