Tag Archives: tragedy

Near Tragedy in My Home

In a previous blog I mentioned taking a weekend trip away from home. It has taken a few days to process a scary event that took place but I now feel ready to share it. There is nothing like feeling helpless as a mom. That is exactly how I felt when Sunday afternoon I was sitting inside an airport in Charlotte, North Carolina and my husband called to tell me that a nearly tragic event took place in our home. On Saturday my 17-year-old son and his good friend had attended a party at someone’s house. One of the pastors … Continue reading →

35 Miles from Shore – Emilio Corsetti III

The year is 1970. The country is up in arms over the war in Vietnam. In just two days, four students will be shot and killed at Kent State. At JFK, a DC-9 jet prepares to take off, with fifty-seven passengers and six crew members. Its destination is the Caribbean island of St. Maarten. A plane that size doesn’t have the fuel capacity to make a flight like that without stopping to refuel, but every time the plane lands and then takes off again, it costs the airline money. The price of the tickets isn’t quite enough to make up … Continue reading →

Processing Tragic News as a Family

Newspapers, radio and television–as much as we parents try to control what sort of news and information gets to our children, it eventually becomes necessary for us to process tragic news–a fatal accident, a community tragedy, or the death of someone in our close circle are just some of the hard realities that we may need to cope with within our families. Being available for our children, and helping them to understand and process the inconceivable can be a huge parental challenge. There have been times over the years when I haven’t even known that my children were wrestling with … Continue reading →

17 Years After Tragedy Strikes: Moving On

This is the conclusion on a 3 part series. To visit part 1 click here, to visit part 2 click here. So why was it after almost 17 years I lay awake grieving and feeling guilty about my friend Joy’s accident? I have hit a point in my life where there is a tremendous amount of contentment. I have a wonderful husband who is a great provider, two beautiful boys who’ve fulfilled my dreams of being a mother, a nice home, the coolest dog… I feel humbled and undeserving of such goodness. Joy will be turning twenty-nine this year and … Continue reading →

17 Years After Tragedy Strikes: Prior To It All

Special needs aren’t always acquired before or at birth. Sometimes parents of perfectly healthy children find themselves in a situation where they have to make peace with a terrible accident that has changed their child forever. This is a true story written by someone who was just a child and was there when one of her own friends was involved in an accident. The other night I was lying awake in bed plagued by guilt due to something that happened almost 17 years ago. I knew in my heart I shouldn’t have felt this way, but I couldn’t seem to … Continue reading →