Child Drowns in Pond

The niece of my brother's friend drowned the other day in a pond while swimming with friends at a friend's house. She was 12 years old. I don't even want to imagine what these parents are going through. I also can't imagine what these young kids will have to remember for the rest of their lives - seeing their friend pulled from the pond too late.

My kids are taking swimming lessons but none of them are good swimmers yet. My 12-year-old daughter has more confidence than she is ready for I think when she's in the deep end of the pool. Even though there is a lifeguard at the pool, I still watch and hover in the background. I'm not quite ready to trust the safety of my children to a stranger. When accidents like this child drowning happens, you realize how quickly and unexpectedly you can lose your child. I was supposed to start working out while my kids went to open swim and trust the lifeguard at the Y, but after this happened, I'm not sure I want to not be a second supervisor while they're swimming.

Hug your children!

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Mark Landon, Michael Landon's Son, Found Dead

I loved Michael Landon as a child, watching him for years on Little House on the Prairie, and was saddened when he passed in 1991. Now, at the age of 60, his son, Mark Landon, passes as well. Mark Landon was found dead in his home in Los Angeles yesterday. There is no evidence of foul play. He was 60 years old.

Here is the article in the L.A. Times.

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Nikki Catsouras Accident Scene Photos

It's all over the 'net today about the photos from a very bad accident that this teenaged girl, Nikki Catsouras, was in (she was driving her dad's Porsche, which she'd been forbidden to drive, driving 100 mph when she crashed so you can imagine how horrific the accident was). The accident killed this 18-year-old three years ago and the photos are being leaked on the Internet. How horrid. Why would people post pictures like that? Why would people do that to the family of this girl? I think it's disgusting. The Internet is full of information but being morbid and cruel shouldn't be a part of it.

Somebody actually emailed these photos to the parents. What kind of sicko does that?

So, if you came here looking for the photos of a young woman almost decapitated, you won't find them here. Get a life and a hell of a lot of counseling!

I feel so bad for the family. Losing a child would be devastating but to be harassed by sick individuals sending photos from the scene of their deceased child, the person or people who did this must be mental.

I've lost loved ones in traffic accidents - three times actually. It's devastating and horrific. Loved ones left behind in grief shouldn't be faced with sick individuals taunting them after the fact.

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Missing An Old Friend

Tomorrow would have been the birthday of an old friend who was a former coworker and boss, and a man who was like a father to me. He passed away several years ago in a car accident when a semi hit him. The accident wasn't his fault. I was angry for a long time over his passing, over him being taken and shed a lot of tears. I regretted not accepting his job offer after he left the company we both worked for. I missed out on a lot of time with him that I would have had if I had not turned it down.

Anger, regret, despair, sadness - stages of grief I guess. I wonder, though, if you ever get past sadness, past missing a special loved one. It doesn't seem like it.

He was a great boss. He was fun, always making me laugh with jokes and teasing. He was fair. He helped me out personally when I was struggling; he looked out for me. On maternity leave, I went in to show off my baby and ended up needing to change her (which I did on his desk). An executive with a huge company and I'm using his desk as a changing table!

The last time I saw him, he'd called to take me out to lunch. When we parted in the parking lot after lunch, he kissed my cheek good-bye.

I remember the day my firstborn was born, he called me at the hospital first thing that morning. I picked up the phone and said, "Hello." He said, "Hi. This is dad."

I miss him.

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Pastor Shot in Maryville, Illinois

What is this world coming to when you can't even go to church without violence entering the door? A pastor was shot and killed in a First Baptist Church in Maryville, IL. The gunmen walked in and fired several shots at the pastor. The parishioners brought the suspect down with several people wounded, including the suspect.

The pastor had a wife and two children. I hope his children were not in church to witness their father's shooting. Sad.

Read more of the story here.

I was having a discussion with my husband the other day about people being released from prison who have taken a life. He thinks if they've served their life sentence, then they get released. It is what they were given and that's that. I believe if you take a life on purpose, you shouldn't get a chance to live yours again and should rot in a cell somewhere. If somebody killed one of my family members, you could put me in the room with the killing bastard, give me a bat, and leave me along for a little while with him. I'll take care of him and no tax payer dollars would need be wasted to keep this person in jail for years with better health care than tax paying citizens who abide by the law get! Why should you get a shot at a life, even if it is relatively short after a life sentence is served, when the person who you killed doesn't? Yes, I have strong feelings on the subject.

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NamUS Database of National Missing and Unidentified Persons System

There is now a national database for families looking for unidentified missing persons called NamUS - National Missing and Unidentified Persons System. There is hope that it will help solve unsolved cases.

Here is what it says on its home page:

"The Unidentified Decedents Database contains information entered by medical examiners and coroners. Anyone can search the database using characteristics such as sex, race, distinct body features and dental information.

The Missing Persons Database contains information that can be entered by anyone. Before a missing persons case will appear on this Web site, however, it will be validated. The site also provides links to state clearinghouses, medical examiners and coroners, victim assistance groups and pertinent legislation.

In 2009, the two databases will be linked. Families, law enforcement agencies, medical examiners and coroners, victim advocates, and the general public will be able to search for matches between missing persons and unidentified decedent records."

Five missing person cases have been solved already. Normally, you are looking for a "body" but one mother did get her daughter back alive when she listed her daughter on the database, I guess assuming her child was dead, and her daughter, who was alive, went home.

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The Travolta's and the Media

I wasn't going to post about the Travolta's because it's being posted everywhere and it's not like I could add anything that everybody doesn't already know about every parent's worst fear. I know it's been mine since the birth of my first child almost 12 years ago.

However, the media is irritating me. Too much (in my opinion) of the media's reporting is about "John Travolta's son" and then Kelly is mentioned as an afterthought. Is this because John Travolta is the more famous of the two celebrity parents? Don't misunderstand, I've loved John since Grease and now my kids do too. However, Jett had a mother too and from all I have read and family pictures floating around the Internet, she adored him. They both seemed to be parents who truly loved and enjoyed their children. As a mother, I can't imagine the horror and loss she must be feeling over losing her oldest child. Both parents lost their child; not just the more famous one.

My heart goes out to them both. I know everybody keeps offering them condolences, most of which they'll never see (mine included). So I offer mine too...I guess just to make myself feel better in some way but I decided I had to post about the media irritating me again (no surprise there...they generally do). Kelly is a mother; not an afterthought.

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Cell Phone Dials Loved Ones After Owner Dies

Since I was already on the topic of cell phones, I just read an eerie story about that train crash in September where one of the deceased's (who died on impact) cell phone continuously called his loved ones (after he'd already died). When they would answer, all they would hear was static. Read this:

"Peck's body was recovered from the wreckage 12 hours after the accident. Yet for the first eleven of those hours, his cell phone placed call after call to his loved ones, calling his son, his brother, his stepmother, his sister, and his fianceé. In all, his various family members received 35 calls from his cell phone through that long night. When they answered, all they heard was static; when they called back, their calls went straight to voice mail. But the calls gave them hope that the man they loved was still alive, just trapped somewhere in the wreckage.

Charles Peck had died on impact. Yet long past his death, his cell phone had continued to reach out to many of those he cared most about, and ultimately led rescuers to his mortal remains. (As far as investigators revealed, they never found Peck's cell phone.) "

Remember, he died on impact.

Here's the whole story.

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