Something Sad

A couple months ago, a woman who lives nearby did something accidentally that led to her arrest on misdemeanor charges and she was ripped apart in the newspapers for endangering her child--which, sadly, she did, albeit unintentionally.

This person, very well-liked in the community, is by all accounts a wonderful, kind-hearted person and a devoted mother. She made a mistake--a careless mistake. Her child was unharmed.

Her kids have suffered so much, not because of people in the neighborhood--who have rallied around the family in support--but at the hands of anonymous "screen names" who know nothing about the family or the situation. There was a news story about the incident, it was on the Internet, and I couldn't believe some of the mean, hateful, judgmental, cold-hearted comments written below the online newspaper story about this person. Then again, there were some kind, supportive ones--which I was glad to see.

I saw her this weekend--I know her only well enough to nod and smile in passing; I didn't even know her name until this happened--at a local event and she was smiling and chatting with others, but something in her looked so sad, so lost. She lifted her hand to brush her hair out of her face, and I noticed a long, deep vertical scar on her wrist.

Again, I don't know her. But I just wanted to give her a hug or do or say something to make her feel better or let her know that others care about her--or something. I can't even imagine the torment she went through, and is still going through, just thinking that she inadvertently put her child in harm's way. I've been thinking about her all day.

It made "There But For Fortune" all the more relevant. I am not trying to sound like Little Mary Sunshine, but I wish people could be kinder and more empathetic.