Forgive me for making a slight detour from my typical lighterhearted "mommy blog" for a moment, but something happened recently that I need to talk about.
Recently, a friend of mine's family was murdered. Yes, the FAMILY was murdered. Husband and two sons, driving home from a BBQ next door to my sister-in-law's, were murdered in an act of road rage or just a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
I saw the widow and daughter today and I can't even imagine her pain. She is holding it together in such a graceful and powerful manner. She is fighting a battle with the SF city District Attorney to seek the death penalty. She is holding together her remaining family of daughter and son and being strong for them all while in the middle of a horrific nightmare. She is taking the high road and battling a war on behalf of her husband and two sons - and the community as a whole.
I hugged her and felt helpless. She briefly talked about taking her son off of life support, about breaking the news to her daughter, about collapsing in a pile of dirty laundry just to get their smells again. It was all so horrible and unimaginable. It was like hearing someone tell of a dreadfully sad movie but I couldn't wrap my brain around THIS IS REAL.
At one point, she grabbed my arm and said "You have a beautiful family. Embrace every day with them." There was no "you never know when it will end" or negativity in her words - just a feeling of love and live in the moment.
There is no real point to this blog entry other than to serve as my reminder to be present, be grateful and love like there's no tomorrow.
And perhaps if you're religious you will say a few prayers on behalf of the Bologna family and hug your family a little tighter today.
2 comments:
How absolutely horrible!
Thank you for the reminder that every day is precious.
Ohhh man! This is so awful. Heartbreaking, really.
I had an equally heartbreaking story over the weekend. I went to my neice's birthday party, where a friend of my cousin's was off by herself, somewhat sulking. I asked her what was wrong, and she replied, "My nephew went missing. He's 20 years old, grabbed his surf board and wrote a note to my sister that says, "I love my family but life sucks so bad." and went missing...just drove off into the sunset. I got an email from her: her nephew was found, but had committed suicide. How awful. I cannot imagine the pain and the void that is left when a child does this.
I am the praying sort, and will definitely be praying for your friend (and mine).
:-(
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