For Johnny Brinson, the book sat unfinished for years. What stayed unfinished too was the story he wanted people to know about his mother, Lt. Debra Clayton.

This Mother’s Day, Brinson said he finally feels at peace after finishing the memoir his mother started before she was killed in 2017.

“I finished it for her,” he said.

The book, “Bridging the Gap: The Untold Story of Courage”, became much bigger than a writing project for Brinson. He said it became a promise to preserve his mother’s voice, her faith, her struggles, her dreams and the love she gave to her family and community.

“Everybody just remembers the tragic day,” Brinson said. “You don’t really know the story and what she went through day to day to get to where she became Deborah Clayton.”

Brinson said that story began in Orlando’s Carver Shores neighborhood, where Clayton grew up witnessing injustice and decided she wanted to become the kind of officer people could trust.

“She saw officers mistreating people, and she just vowed to help and not let that be her,” Brinson said. “She wanted to give the community somebody to depend on.”

He said his mother was also “stern,” “loving,” and “amazing.”

“I miss her every day,” he said.

Some of Brinson’s strongest memories with his mother are from Clearwater Beach, where he said they would sit together and talk about life, goals and the future. He said that even while she worked long hours and helped others, she never made him feel forgotten.

“She gave so much to everybody and still was present with me,” he said. “It was amazing to be like… where did you find time to do all this?”

Now a new father, Brinson said he better understands the sacrifices his mother made.

“I understand the stuff she went through now,” he said to News6. “It made me appreciate her even more.”

He said that feeling deepened after the birth of his son, Wraith. Brinson said one reason he pushed himself to finish the book was knowing his son would one day ask about the grandmother he never met.

“What I want him to know is that she was a hero,” Brinson said. “She was a wife, and she was a loving mother… and his grandmother was a hero.”

Brinson said he already talks to his son about Clayton, and still talks to his mother too.

“When I pray at night, I just talk to her,” he said. “Especially ever since I had a baby… I kind of feel her like, ‘It’s okay. Everything gonna work out.”

Finishing the memoir was emotionally exhausting, Brinson said. He said he rewrote it seven times over nine years because nothing felt authentic enough. The hardest part was revisiting the chapter about his mother’s death.

“The toughest chapter was the part where she died,” he said. “It’s like reliving it over and over and over again.”

But Brinson said the process also brought healing.

“It actually freed me in a way,” Brinson said. “My life’s lighter now. I’m happier now. Her truth’s out.”

He also said part of that healing came through forgiveness. Brinson said he has forgiven the man responsible for killing his mother because he did not want anger to define the rest of his life.

As Mother’s Day approaches, Brinson said he wants people to hear one message.

“Life is short,” he said. “Forgive and forget… cherish her while you got her because one day she won’t be here.”

The e-book version of “Bridging the Gap: The Untold Story of Courage” is available on Amazon. Brinson said it will be free on Mother’s Day and for two days afterward because making the story accessible was one of his mother’s wishes.

Read more from Click Orlando News 6.