“There’s no point really in me right now being sad or wondering what if.”

There are so many things about this story that bother me. That disgust me. That make me sick. That make me angry.

The fact that a child was living in a very abusive home for years and no one bothered to notice or if they did, care. That her life was so horrific that she is actually thankful that she was kidnapped and tortured. Raped. Terrorized.

Stop and let that sink in for a bit.

What a horrific world we live in.

I am tempted to make this into an argument about the state of our country, but I will not.

I find her bravery inspiring. So much can be learned from her. From her courage. From her attitude. From her, well, from her.

I fear the tendency for people is to read a story like this and think, I have suffered, but not like this; therefore, I have no right to feel what I feel or to hurt the way I hurt.

I do think we can all look at those who have sacrificed or suffered in unimaginable ways and perhaps gain a bit of perspective, but pain is not so easily quantified. The lesson is not in the crime or in the amount of suffering, but in the healing.

“I want to be able to help people who might not know where to turn,” she explained. “To see that there is a road to recovery.”

There is, indeed, much to learn from her.

10 thoughts on ““There’s no point really in me right now being sad or wondering what if.”

  1. I thought the exact same thing! How could her life had been so bad that kidnapping made it better and NO ONE NOTICED! That is what this Congress should be concerned about!

  2. There’s a very good reason why I avoid reading stories like that. I don’t have enough bail money saved up in case the authorities figure out how to trace a certain caliber rifle slug back to a certain rifle that may or may not be in my possession.

  3. I have been pondering how and what to comment on this. Now, I cannot see or understand how something like this got that far. The wife of that god father had to have known something was going on. No way could she not have…a little kid does not normally just shut up and not complain about pain. Then there is the laundry….no stains????? As for the kidnapper….digs a hole that large for that “bunker” and the neighbors do not think that strange…or the building inspector must be blind or else was bribed. Then the neighbors….all of a sudden this kid shows up in the neighborhood….and no one saw where she lives???? I mean the kidnapper all of a sudden has this kid going to his home????? Sorry, but it seems to me the neighbors are a bit to blame here also. NO….I don’t mean this as they should be nosy….just observant, and then if things are really suspicious go to the authorities. Then again….maybe this is an indication of how most people live today….draw the drapes at night….Never could figure that one out….I leave mine open until I go to bed. I want to see out, not shut the world out. But maybe that is exactly what is happening today…shut the world out….that way the “baddies” can’t hurt us……yeah, right. As for not getting more coverage in the news….nope….not gonna happen…..the damm news coverage today is so slanted or controled that we havent’t been hearing the truth for over who knows how long.

    • Curt –
      What makes you think he got a building permit? And in his back yard, he could have dug it and built it himself with little notice from the neighbors.

      And she didn’t just show up in the neighborhood. He kidnapped her and locked her in the bunker. Nobody knew she was there.

      But you are correct. The godmother was at a minimum turning a blind eye to the situation, and at worst was complicit in her abuse.

      • Well, from what I read his house was not out in the country. Every city I have ever lived in requires a building permit for any kind of a structure over a certain size. While he would not need one just for digging a hole, he would need one if he were installing/building one with walls and especially if it was to be underground.
        Maybe I read it wrong, but there was mention of something along the lines he sent her to the store for certain items. As for the neighbors, while some people seem to live in some kind of bubble, every neighbor I have had would surely make some kind of comment to someone digging that size hole, especially when there was framing of walls and some kind of overhead and then buried. Hmmm….this brings me to something I cannot understand….it seems today most people are either so occupied with themselves that they wouldn’t notice an elephant walking down their sidewalk. Really. How many people do you know of who are truly observant of thier immediate surroundings, much less of things a block or so away from their homes. As has been pointed out so often on here…people in parking lots, walking down the street after dark, etc….no situational observance whatsoever.

        • Curt –

          What I was alluding to is that you assumed he got a building permit. Yes, one would have been legally required, but that doesn’t mean he got one. Many people do home repairs that technically require a building permit, but that doesn’t mean they bother to get one. Where I live, replacing a water heater requires a permit. I doubt most people who buy a replacement water heater at the big box home improvement store are even aware of that requirement. In the case of someone who intends to use his bunker for very illegal purposes? No, I seriously doubt he bothered with getting the legally required permits.

          I re-read the story, and didn’t see anything about her being sent to a store. Possibly in a different story, but I didn’t see it in the one AGirl linked to.

  4. It’s a great story though. It says that you aren’t ruled by what has happened to you. Yes, her history is awful and never should have happened. Someone should have seen something and intervened. But the knight in shining armor is just a fairy tale. And she’s the phoenix that rose from the ashes. If she can overcome that, anything is possible.

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