As soon as I heard the voice of that reporter, I instantly recognized it. When I was in college, I took a sports broadcasting class. On Friday nights, we had to cover local high school football games. My first game was in Sullivan. When I got there, I met a guy named Greg. He was the most helpful, professional and friendly guy I've ever met. He came to us five minutes before we went on the air and told us to put our headsets on. When he called 1 minute, I got butterflies in my stomach. He told me to relax and talk into the mic. I said, "What mic?" The mic was attached to the headset but wasn't bent down. So he pushed it down as he counted down from 10 seconds. He came on a few times during the night to help us with the broadcast. I never understood how he could be so calm. But that was nothing compared to the interview he did with Willow's grandma. I've covered a lot of heartbreaking stories over the years, and I often get choked up. I burst into tears when a lady told me about officers knocking on her door after her son was killed in Vietnam. Heck, I think I would have been bawling more than Mrs. DeRyke. She held it together really well for what she's been through.
The news has been plastered all over my Facebook for the past several days. People I know comment on news articles and have made statements about how precious their own kids are. Some are very touching. Some are very troubling. Many of the people have never read the details of a crime this horrific, and nothing this horrific has ever happened in their lifetimes. The degree of violence and the proximity to where they live their lives has made them acutely aware that their children are never as safe as they'd like them to be.
Think about that case that broke you. We all have them. Some of us have many. For the people who have made the nasty remarks, pointed fingers and expressed outrage, this is the one that has shaken them to the core, that has them doubting humanity, that has them angry. It has clouded their thinking and jaded them. A whole community has lost its innocence. People are afraid to let their children play in the back yard or walk to school or spend the night with a friend. I guess what I'm saying is that every member of this geographic area sees himself as a victim here. This has affected thousands of people. That doesn't make it right for them to spout hurtful nonsense about a family in grief. But it makes it understandable.
