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!

[amandageist.livejournal.com]

I am a fourth child, the only girl, and was much the special baby of the family. My parents were attentive and loving. But still--there is a family story of how, after Sunday school one day, each of my brothers and my parents got their designated Baby Thing to Carry and trooped off to the car. Nobody remembered *me.* They had all the stuff, though. Mom had to run back to the nursery.

And my husband, who is one of the most devoted fathers I know of--has at least twice shown up at the house without our youngest, and looked at me blankly when I asked where Michael was, and had to go back to our caregiver's house to fetch him.

My older son has gone outside when I was not aware, and gotten into our car and shut the door, on a Texas summer day. I found him shortly thereafter and probably scared the hell out of him with the intensity of my reaction.

It can happen. It can happen to anyone who has more than one thing to think about. It *does* happen, all the time, and since most times it's not fatal, it either doesn't register or is quickly forgotten. Or it's avoided; I still get sick to my stomach remembering that pinata-swing that I saw pass less than an inch from my older son's face, as he eluded my grasp to dart forward. I don't *want* to remember it.

There's much we're not told. Maybe the mom put the baby in the car for the dad, so he didn't have that "unfinished action" mental tickler. Maybe she only thought he heard her, when she was reminding him what he needed to do that day. I often have to repeat, or ask for verbal confirmation, simply because we have a lot of details to remember.

From what I read, this was their second child. The increase in confusion in life, going from one to two, is *far* more than twice as much. And three months old? Nobody's sleeping much or thinking clearly.

I couldn't sleep, after reading that. There but for the grace of God.

~Amanda