A Final Journey in Spirit With a Slain Brother

Matthew Blek was killed by a gunman in Queens, N.Y., two years ago, but he lives on in the memory of his brother, Timothy.

It’s not always a good thing.

For Timothy Blek, 22, the painful, sudden loss of his brother left many words unsaid, many adventures together unfulfilled.

“We made a lot of trips together and we always planned on driving cross-country, but we never did it,” the Cal Poly Pomona student said.

Matthew Blek, who was 21, was spending the summer in New York when teenagers using a cheap handgun shot him during a robbery.

“We did so much together, there are times when I wake up on weekends to call Matt, then I realize he’s not here anymore.”

Friday, Timothy Blek embarked on a final trip with his brother, at least in spirit.

He loaded a truck with 5,500 pairs of shoes, including his brother’s wrestling shoes, all of which represent shooting victims. Then he started a 3,000-mile journey to deliver the footwear to the Silent March Against Gun Violence offices in Washington, where the shoes will be used in a national demonstration this month.

“It’ll be tough because I’ll be thinking of him the whole way,” said Timothy Blek, who will be leaving from his family’s Mission Viejo home and traveling with two friends across the country. “But I think there will be some closure for me.”

Since Matthew’s death, the entire Blek family has thrown themselves into battle against gun violence.

They have spoken at rallies, started a newsletter and most recently, worked to help gather thousands of shoes from Southland residents for the second annual Washington march, where 40,000 shoes collected across the country will be on display.

“I saw the video from last year’s march,” said Matthew’s mother, Mary Leigh Blek, “The visual impact of seeing almost 40,000 pairs of shoes and realizing how many deaths are caused by guns was overpowering.”

She is proud of her son, but is also afraid that another son is traveling to another strange and dangerous area of the country.

“We have a philosophy in our family to give our children roots, then give them wings,” she said. “It’s [Timothy’s] decision and I’m proud of him, but I’m afraid at the same time. I no longer wear this mask of denial that it couldn’t happen to us.”

The march will take place Sept. 30. Timothy Blek and his friends expect to be in Washington in about a week. Because of school and work constraints, the group will fly home a few days later.

“It’s important that Matthew not be forgotten,” Timothy Blek said. “And we just want to help make people aware that everyone is affected by gun violence.”