Tragedy on Thanksgiving

Reading this article breaks my heart. I found this on msn.com while looking for something about Thanksgiving to blog about. It really saddens me that this family has to go through such a tragedy on Thanksgiving Day.

I have made no secret of being in the recovery program for friends and family of alcoholics, and this week is a hard week for most everyone in both that program as well as A.A. While sitting in meetings this week I heard so many heart-breaking tales of “Thanksgiving past”. Things others have been through due to the drinking and the behavior of those engulfed in the family disease of alcoholism. I remember thinking when I was headed to a meeting Tuesday night, “I need to talk about what I think is going to happen tomorrow with my family.” I felt that I needed to get it off my chest, in order to ease the worry some. Then during the meeting, I heard others situations and I realized that what I have to deal with is not so bad. And I began to pray for my friends and family to get through this holiday with at least one good memory.

Today, I am trying to find something to blog about, and this is what I find. This is even more terrible than the stories I listened to on Tuesday night. I cannot imagine what the family in this article is going through.

A hideous crime committed in their home, while they were all there and awake. Not only will they have to live with the sadness of no longer having their children, their wives etc, they also have to deal with a guilt that will haunt them until their dying day. Guilt of being there and not stopping it; guilt for not knowing it happened, and the guilt of knowing they could have prevented it from the beginning if they had only treated Mr. Merhige differently.

My hope for this family is that someday soon they can forgive themselves for what they think they have caused.