Day 4 - 5 -- Grappling with Tragedy

Where to begin? Some wise soul has said start at the beginning. But where is the beginning?  I'll just start. I woke for no known reason at 4 AM today. When it became clear I wasn't going to get back to sleep, I'd turned on the TV and listened to the late night news rerun in the early hours. There was no further information on the death of four family members in a nearby community than there had been earlier yesterday. When the morning show began at 7 AM, the lead story on the national news was this story. I was listening - sort of -- and heard what I'd felt the outcome would be yesterday when the police had noted there was no danger to the public and they weren't looking for any suspects -- murder suicide is suspected. That was heartbreaking -- a young man who appeared to have killed himself after shooting his wife, daughter and mother. The reports noted that he was a veteran from Afghanistan, who had been struggling with PTSD. Reportedly, he had presented to our local hospital within the past week and was told there were no beds. His wife had been only recently hired as a newly minted RN at this same hospital. That is when I really became alert. I'd vaguely heard the name, but then it all clicked. Thankful for my pvr, I was able to rewind to check. I taught his wife 2 years ago and had spoken to her last when I saw her working at the hospital -- about 6 months ago.

As the realization that I knew one of the four people flooded in, I began to cry. Heartbroken seems an understatement. Sadness, anger, confusion, disbelief. Multiple systems had failed to help this veteran. He'd been in care when he returned from his tour of duty several years ago. He was then mustered out due to illness, and struggled to find the help he needed to move past the psychological damage of war. Today the Premier called for an investigation of what exactly occurred at the hospital when he had sought assistance. Veterans groups have again emphasized the need for all care and needed services to be in place prior to discharging personnel. Grief counselors have been called in for his daughter's school, the university, and their community. There seems a touch of irony there.

Choosing  a song for today was challenging. I settled on one that seemed to carry the main message that I heard in my head today. I'm sharing the audio only version.  Enjoy!

The news story is here should you wish to read more. 

Gone Too Soon -- Michael Jackson