A tragedy

[pegkerr]

This story--and especially the picture of the father--absolutely broke my heart.

I can't give the family anything but heartfelt sympathy. Every parent knows how thin the line is that we walk between life as usual and making a mistake that has consequences you will never recover from.

I hope that their family stays intact after this tragedy, and may God be with them as they mourn their loss.

Edited to add: I cross posted this in badparents here and it has generated a large amount of comments, if people would like to see what others are saying.

Comments

Re: Yes!

[ladylisse.livejournal.com]

I get that, which is what scares me so much. My mom had the three of us in a span of six and a half years, so for a while all of us were too little to be in school or unsupervised at all. Even though my mother was one of the most careful and protective people I've ever met, I still remember a couple of times when a gate got left open or someone almost didn't get buckled in.

I think that's why the knee-jerk reaction was "I don't understand!" I'm incredibly protective of my sister, and this brought back all the times when I would watch her to make sure she didn't choke on something or crawl off while my mom went to get the laundry or whatever. It's too easy for me to imagine what could've happened if I'd been distracted by something and looked away.

Re: Yes!

[cakmpls.livejournal.com]

But what if you hadn't been there? And who watched you when your mother did the laundry when you were a baby? Every parent has to keep the household running while raising kids. Much as we might like to never have to do anything other than watch the baby, life doesn't work that way.