^^^^Nova, one of the things that impressed me about the Hances was that they began counseling early on. They did have to look hard for help-apparently many professionals felt the Hances' loss was so horrific that they didn't feel they could rise to the challenge involved. It sounds like that weekly counseling might have saved their lives. Even with counseling and IMMENSE community support, these two almost didn't make it in more ways than one.
I've read reviews of Jackie's book, and many found her to be self-centered, while they remained very sympathetic to Warren. I think Warren's coping skills were simply different than Jackie's. He had a career where he could go to distract himself from his pain. He's naturally positive, a problem solver, practical, and able to see that he and Jackie had been good parents and did nothing wrong. Jackie's career was being a SAHM, so she had nothing but an empty house, memories, and self recrimination to keep her company. She admitted that her behavior often seemed crazy, that she was incredibly hard on Warren and her friends, and that she was depressed, guilt-ridden, volatile, etc. for years. She wrote that she wasn't able to really bond with her new baby until she forgave Diane. She stated that it's impossible to feel love at the same time you are filled with anger and hatred, which she was for the better part of several years.
In spite of the fact that they have a new daughter, both of them still live with a lot of pain. I worry for the child that her parents will be pathologically over protective (and who could blame them?) or that she will live with a huge burden of trying to measure up to the memory of her sisters, or some other similar issues. I don't think the Hances have their happy ending and will always need support in order to address these challenges. That book is heart wrenching.