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On Grieving the Hated
When there’s no safe space to mourn
Update: April 8, 2019
This case has reared its head again as juries rule this as a murder-suicide. Once again I am mourning the loss of these beautiful children. There are a host of societal issues at play here — my unwillingness to acknowledge them in the beginning was due to shock, ignorance, and profound sadness. I’m not trying to make excuses for myself, but I acknowledge that I wanted to find something other than anger in response to the snuffing out of these beautiful, beautiful lights. My only hope, anymore, is that their deaths will not be in vain.
Recently I put forth an unpopular opinion.
Writers sometimes do this, if we’re brave enough — and believe me, I almost wasn’t brave enough, because I had already seen enough of the ire and wrath being spewed everywhere about the family I was grieving for.
I knew that by putting my unpopular opinions out there I was going to be the target for more speculative ire and wrath, myself, but on the other hand, I had to say something. Writing is therapeutic, and I knew, too, that I wasn’t the only one out there who suffered a different kind of pain after the Hart family left our earthly plane. We were afraid to speak of our pain and sadness openly, because the internet can be a very cruel place full of…