Last week an old family/childhood friend was on the news - not in a good way. More of a "here is my mugshot" way.
This was the first boy I ever kissed (over my 3rd birthday cake....) and my parents were very close with his parents.
Then we moved to Utah, and they stayed in California and now I wouldn't recognize him if he walked up to me and said hello.
So although I hardly know him, it broke my heart to see him on the news that way.
So I e-mailed my mom to see how his parents are doing.
Not well.
"They're devastated." she said. "This makes you see things like this from a different perspective. I guess even Brian David Mitchell has a mother."
I suppose we all take our turns doing things we regret, and while some do things that are completely inexcusable, somewhere there is probably a mother/wife/brother who is aching for the mistakes made by a person they love.
Someone who once kissed a little girl over her 3rd birthday cake making her birthday wish come true.
I can't even imagine being that mother to someone who's gotten themselves in THAT bad of a spot. we do all make mistakes and they're adults but still i don't know if i could handle that.
ReplyDeleteAnd sometimes they were just their Primary teacher and foster parents for four months, and their hearts break that the beautiful little blond boy turned out to be a thief and a convicted felon.
ReplyDeleteIt's important to try to have an identity of yourself that isn't exclusively "mother;" because, sure enough, your children get to have their agency, too. And sometimes that hurts.