And yet that simple act of opening a window has had the most dire of consequences. A child is gone forever, and the guilt the parents are feeling right now must be so entirely overwhelming. It is something that will loom over them, forever trembling in the branches of the trees above their heads and following them wherever they go.

I understand this guilt. My daughter died in a different way, but not a day goes by that I don’t play the What If game. I will never know if we could have done something differently to change the outcome of her birth and now I have to live with that each and every day. It takes the might of an elephant to to keep my thoughts from swirling like a tornado in my head.

It’s like being at war with your own mind on an island of flat concrete and not being able to see the flag of truce waving over the hills across the horizon.

I shudder to think how shattered those poor families are at the moment and I wish them much strength for the long battle ahead of them.

Labels: Grief and Loss, Thinking Out Loud