I was sickened by the late news last night about the woman who threw her young child over the rail of the 401 and then jumped immediately after.
As tragic and incomprehensible this act may be, I always wonder about the other stories that never get any media attention. How horrible it must have been for the drivers on the highway to have inadvertently hit a falling child. How can those people continue their lives without constantly replaying the awful sound of the thud which the bodies must have made against their vehicles?
I once sold a house which was located in a very swanky neighbourhood and was surrounded by million dollar homes. Despite its location however, this house sold for only half a million dollars because it was in a serious state of disrepair. Another agent informed me that the owner of the house was divorced, and that her ex-husband had been one of the pathologists who had worked on a horrific multiple homicide case in which the young teenage victims had been tortured, sexually assaulted and then dismembered. Apparently, he never got over the horrors of what he had seen and turned to alcohol for solace. As a result, his marriage disintegrated and he became estranged from his wife and children. Following the dissolution of his career and relationships, he fell further apart and wasn't able to support his family. His two sons suffered immensely as they struggled to school themselves, maintain a modicum of normalcy and help support their mother.
For every hair raising news story, there are so many more victims than we care to contemplate. I wish the media would just once acknowledge that fact.
About Me
- EarthMother
- I'm probably developmentally challenged at some level. I think that's the PC way of saying that I am freaking immature and childish. I still haven't figured out if this is a positive or negative attribute.
10 comments:
You're so right, the media does nothing to remind us of the tragedies that occur behind the sensational headlines. Though I once aspired to "share important truths" with the world, I'm now glad I ended up a jaded news consumer rather than an ambulance chaser. I'm also thankful for the blogosphere and brilliant, down-to-earth social commentators such as yourself.
Hi Kyarou. Thanks for the kind comments. I'm glad you didn't give up on me since I post so sporadically these days!
I feel bad for that woman's family. Obviously there was something SERIOUSLY wrong with her.
And I think about those other victims too, they must be horribly traumatized.
Over a decade ago, a friend died in a car crash, and I was at the ER when his parents arrived. Hearing his mum's scream/moan/howl was the worst thing I've ever heard. I still can't return to that hospital.
Your story about the pathologist is just heartwrenching. It's true - we don't hear of all the other stories.
Dickey: What an awful experience that must have been for you. I can imagine how impossible it would be to ever erase that mother's griefstricken wails from your memory.
Snooze: I think we have such a closed definition about victims of a tragedy. No one tends to look beyond the obvious.
Was that sarcastic? I didn't mean to discount HER pain...
Sarcastic? Not at all. I was merely saying how awful that tableau must have been for you to witness. No wonder you still can't bring yourself to return to that hospital.
Oh, okay. Your first comment was so "in my favour" that I felt like maybe i'd been too self-focused.
:)
Oh, okay. Your first comment was so "in my favour" that I felt like maybe i'd been too self-focused.
:)
Dickey: I think the point of your story is that one quite naturally assumes that the parents of your friend were/are suffering, but most people fail to realise that others get affected in many ways by a tragedy. In your case, you will forever be haunted by the horrible howls of the mother. We need to be mindful that there are many others we don't think about who get marked by tragedy in different ways.
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